Sacrifice
by Sahara Lilium
Summary: Sometimes life doesn't go as planned. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's paternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.
1. The compromise

Disclaimer: This is my own piece of work. Any similarity to books, real life or otherwise, is purely a coincidence.

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

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SACRIFICE

Chapter 1

Sahara Lilium

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"Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust..."

The priest's voice droned on but Serena Carter ignored him. She was staring, numb at the coffin which was being lowered into the hole in the ground. Her sister's grave. Mina.

Mina and her husband Andrew Refatalki had died a month before in a car accident when they were hurrying to get to the hospital in time for their baby to be born, whose birth was imminent in a few more minutes. Well, they did get to the hospital, and before the baby was born, just not in the way they had intended. The car had skidded on a patch of ice and ploughed into the steep ditch which was on the side of the road.

Mina hadn't died immediately. She had made it to the hospital where her baby girl was born. She had held Diana in her arms, kissed her cheek, looked at her face. And then, weakened from the loss of blood and the news of her husband's death, she had succumbed to her own death.

"Serena, we have to get going."

Luna's voice broke in through Serena's thoughts and she turned to stare at her friend. Luna gestured around and Serena noticed that they were the only ones standing at the graveside. Everyone had already left, who knew how long ago.

Luna took hold of her arm and with a sympathetic smile, said, "We should go home. Diana's probably missing you by now."

This brought a weak smile to Serena's tried and haggard face. Diana. The only ray of light in her life right now. That little angel had taken to Serena as if she was her own mother. And Serena intended to be just that. Diana wasn't going to feel the loss of her mother and father. Not one bit.

Walking with Luna to her car, Serena frowned as the back of her neck tingled. She looked around until she spotted him. Darien Refatalki. Andrew's brother... not that anyone would have been able to tell from their appearances. Or even their personalities. Andrew had been an open, warm, caring guy and Darien… Well, they were both very different. Had been very different. Serena needed to get used to thinking of Mina and Andrew in the past tense.

Swallowing, she turned her attention back to where she was going. She sighed as she felt the onslaught of tears and momentarily closed her eyes

Luna smiled encouragingly at Serena again as they reached the car. It was going to be okay if Serena pulled all her wits together. Everything would be okay.

It was a month from the day of the funeral. Serena had just finished feeding and putting Diana to bed when the doorbell rang. She ignored it since it was probably Artemis. Luna's special friend. God and Luna were the only ones who knew how Artemis's 'courtship' as he put it, was going. Serena didn't think Artemis had a chance. One reason being their differences.

Not just physical differences but personality dissimilarities as well. Luna was serious to the point that her motto in life was 'work hard and then work harder'. Artemis on the other hand, well, he knew how to have fun. He worked hard but played even harder. While Luna liked to spend her free time at home, reading, taking walks, Artemis liked to socialise... a lot. His typical weekly schedule was a date with a companion on Friday (now with Luna), a party on Saturday, a small get-together on Sunday, brunch with friends on Monday, a dinner date with another companion on Tuesday (now with Luna), beer in a bar with friends on Wednesday and so on. But, to be honest, who knew. After all, some people did say that opposites attracted. And weirder things had happened.

Serena ran a comb through her silvery blonde hair as she viewed herself in the mirror. She hadn't wanted to go anywhere today but Seiya had insisted that she needed to get out of the house.

So now she was dressed in a black evening dress which reached her knees. It was sleeveless but a choker was attached to it to hold the dress up. There was also a gold hooped belt going around her waist and falling to the hem of the dress on one side. The casual part was done. Now for the smart. Serena grabbed the suit jacket and put it on. The light blue brought out the colour of her eyes, but did it look a little too planned…? She looked into the mirror and then shrugged. It would have to do.

She was supposed to be going out for a business dinner with some colleagues from work and Seiya Granger. Seiya. She unconsciously smiled as she thought of him. They had previously gone out but had decided that it didn't suit them to be involved in a romantic relationship. So now they were just friends.

Luna called up to her that she had a visitor and thinking that it was Seiya, a genuine smile came over her face and she hurried downstairs.

It wasn't Seiya. Boy, it wasn't. Serena stood there, frozen in amazement, even when he went over to the drinks cabinet and poured himself a drink as Luna must have asked him to do. And Luna, where was she?

Serena looked behind her and sure enough, Luna was creeping upstairs and when she caught Serena's eye, she winked. Serena scowled back at her and turned around. She was disconcerted to find Darien Refatalki's eyes on her. They slid from the top of her head to the tip of her polished blue court shoes, pausing in between to… study the more womanly attributes of her figure.

Serena seethed inwardly. How dare he look at her in such a brazen way?

"Well, Mr Refatalki, what brings you here? This is the last place I would expect you to visit." Her anger put an extra bite in her voice.

Darien Refatalki's jaw clenched and he continued to stare at Serena. "Ms Carter. My quarrel is with people, not with places."

She exhaled loudly and smiled. "Really? You strike me as a man who would start an argument with anyone over everything."

He inclined his head mockingly and through half closed eyes, surveyed her again. "And you strike me as a woman who loves making trouble wherever she goes. Any kind of trouble."

Serena opened her mouth to retort, say something which would firmly put him in his place, but before she could say anything, he continued. "Enough! I haven't come here to be insulted and to insult in return, even though what I've said about you is true."

Serena caught her lower lip between her teeth. That man was an arrogant jerk, even though he was a very handsome jerk, who didn't have anything better to do than go around beckoning with his little finger expecting everybody to-

"- and so I regret to inform you that we are at a crossroads over Diana unless we can come to an agreeable arrangement."

That brought Serena's attention back to him and she realised that he had been talking all this time. Talking nonsense. Diana was staying with Serena and there was no crossroads or disagreement about it. "Pardon? I don't understand what you're saying."

He sighed. "It's not difficult to understand. Andrew's will clearly states that unless we compromise and come to an agreement where we both keep Diana, we can't both be her legal guardians separately."

Serena stared at him and he stared back. Andrew had written that in his will? What wrong had she ever done to him? "But- but there has to be some mistake. I'm not sharing Diana with you. You don't deserve her after what you did to Andrew and Mina." After all, what kind of a man threw his brother and his wife out into the streets?

"You don't have to share her. You can give her to me. I've talked to my lawyers and I've been advised that as long as I have your written agreement, I can keep Diana."

Serena nodded and asked him, "So I can keep her as long as I have your agreement."

His dark head lowered in a nod. "Yes but unfortunately for you, I don't agree with the fact that you should be the one to take care of Diana. So, now all I need is your signature on a piece of paper stating that you are happy with me keeping Diana, and we can be on our way."

Arrogantly, he reached inside his jacket's pocket, and took out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, he slid it across to Serena and taking out a gold studded pen, rolled that over to Serena too.

Serena stared at him open-mouthed. Of all the arrogant, narrow-minded, inhumane-

"Now, if you can just sign on that bottom line, I have to get going for a business dinner that I can't be late for."

"You know, I've always heard that men like you don't really care what others think. They don't care what happens to other people as long as they get their own way. I never believed that any human could be that uncaring, that unfeeling but now, you've sure convinced me."

Darien Refatalki raised an eyebrow and looked at Serena. "You're right. It means nothing to me what you think as long as you sign the document. I've already told you that I'm going to be late for a business dinner."

"Well we wouldn't want that now would we?" She sent a sympathetic smile his way. "But I really don't care either. You can be early or late for it, it doesn't matter to me. I'm not signing any document which has something to do with you."

He sighed impatiently. "I don't think you understand Ms Carter. There are only two choices. Either we look after Diana together or I look after her separately, while you agree not to see her."

Serena shook her head. "I think you're the one who doesn't understand Mr Refatalki. We have three choices. Look after her together, you look after her or I look after her."

"I'm afraid that's impossible. Diana is a Refatalki and she is going to stay one. It's her right to stay with her family."

"Family!" Serena stared at him and shook her head in disbelief. "Family mattered nothing to you did it when you disowned Andrew? He was more of a Refatalki than Diana and yet you forbad him any contact with his family."

He froze and set his mouth in a thin, stern line. "Don't start an argument of which you know nothing about, Ms Carter. The disowning is a private matter between the Refatalkis."

"Yeah?" Serena raised her brows. " Well I think you don't have any right for privacy after the way my sister was involved in your 'private matter'." Serena stopped and then added heatedly. "You didn't think Mina was good enough for Andrew did you? You and your family-"

Darien glanced at his watch and then interrupted her impatiently. "Nothing like that was ever said Ms Carter and now-"

Serena shook her head. "It wasn't said but it was implied Mr Refatalki. You of all people should know-"

"Ms Carter, we are getting off track here."

Serena ground her teeth in anger. "The way I see it, we haven't got a track to get off of. Diana is staying with me. What're you going to do with her while you go off on all your business meetings? Take her with you and keep the buggy in your office while you do whatever you do? I don't think so."

"I am very busy yes. But you also have to work and I don't see your boss letting you bring the child to work with you everyday."

Serena took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. God, she had such a headache. "I, Mr Refatalki, can work from home, and I have Luna to look after Diana during the odd times that I can't-"

"- whereas with me Diana will have a normal routine. She will have a nanny, a nurse, and a helper with her. She will be well taken care of and will grow up to be-"

"- a spoilt little rich girl all ready to step into the shoes of a rich man's wife and hostess. Love doesn't enter into your equation does it?"

Darien stared at her with irritation. "Love has nothing to do-"

"Yes it does." Serena argued back heatedly. "More than anything else and you-"

"We can provide more things for her than you can Ms Carter. She will be happy and contented-"

"- all the while not knowing the happiness to be a part of a close knit family." Serena finished for him.

She shook her head and her silver hair flowed behind her. The light caught it and Serena noticed Darien staring at her. She frowned. What was he looking at? He seemed to shake himself out of his entrancement when he saw Serena scowling at him. The air seemed heavier and it became a little difficult to breathe in. Licking her lips, she rubbed the sides of her forehead with her fingers again. She swallowed to relieve the dryness of her throat.

She needed to finish this meeting soon and send this man on his way. He'd taken up enough of her time. And where in the world was Seiya? "Money isn't everything and I have enough. I know I might not be able to provide for Diana as well as you but-"

"- there's no might about it-" He broke in.

Serena spoke over him "- but as I said I can give her love and-"

"Look, it seems as if neither of us is prepared to give Diana up."

Serena let out a little exasperated huff. "You think?"

There was silence between them as Darien let out a little sigh. Serena stared down at her fingers. As if it wasn't enough that both Andrew and Mina had died and left her. Oh no. Apparently that wasn't enough for her to deal without adding this man to the equation as well. What was she going to do?

After a pause, Serena lifted her head and hopefully tried to lift her spirits. "Isn't there anyway you can overrule the will so that I can take keep Diana?"

Without looking at Serena he smiled grimly. "You mean so that I can keep Diana." Holding out a hand when Serena opened her mouth to protest, he continued. "No. I'm afraid not. That's why it's taken me a month to approach you about this dilemma. The only thing my lawyers have been able to come up with is the compromise that you aren't agreeing to."

Serena sighed quietly and gazed out at the street. She noticed a limo parked outside the house. Darien Refatalki sure knew how to live in style. While she wasn't poor, she couldn't afford to travel in limos everyday. She sighed again. She was attempting to push her problems out of her mind by thinking about things that were irrelevant at the moment. That was only going to make the problems worse.

Turning back towards the man who was causing her this worry, she was taken aback to find him studying her. Again. Hot colour rose in her face as she saw that the skirt of her dress had ridden up too high and was now displaying a lot of leg. A bit more higher and she'd show him that she was wearing black lace underwear.

Uneasily, she tugged the hem of her skirt back down. She didn't like the way her heart had perked up in anticipation instead of dismay at the thought that Darien Refatalki might see her underwear. Serena wasn't a prude but neither was she an exhibitionist. But still, this funny feeling... She was just going to have to keep her mind on business and only on business. Nothing else. Nothing.

"So what are we-" She cleared her throat and tried to make her voice go normal again instead of the low pitched husky sound it had emerged as.

A slight smile curled the edges of Darien's lips.

She determinedly ignored the smug look on his face. "What are we going to do?"

Darien shrugged indulgently. "We haven't got much choice have we but to look after Diana together."

"Excuse me?" She stared at him, not sure she'd heard right.

"We will have to look after Diana together."

This time, she let out an unbelieving little huff. "And pray tell me how we're going to do that with you living in Greece, me in London and basically us hating each other's guts?"

"I don't hate you Ms Carter." He smiled. "That would be feeling too much for you." Serena stiffened. He pretended not to notice. "There's only one solution to this problem."

"And that would be...?" Serena spread her hands in a wide arc. She would do anything to keep Diana. Anything.

"We'll have to get married."

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Sahara Lilium 


	2. The dinner

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage. 

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SACRIFICE

Chapter 2

Sahara Lilium

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Serena stared at him blankly. "What?"

Darien shifted in his chair. "It's quite simple, Ms Carter. Neither of us wants the other to solely take care of Diana. The only other thing to do is to look after her together. And that's why we have to get married."

Serena shot him a look. "We don't have to get married-"

"- so you're saying we live together?"

Serena gritted her teeth at his incredulous tone. "No. We don't have to live together to look after her. She can live with me and you can have visiting rights."

He gave her a searching look. "And if I had suggested visiting rights, Ms Carter, you would have thought me an insensitive-"

"- I already think of you as that Mr-"

"- why don't you apply for visiting rights and Diana can live with me?"

Serena bristled as he interrupted her again. God, had the man no manners? "No! Diana is going to stay with me. That's final."

Darien looked bored. He drew the sleeve of his jacket and shirt back to look at the time again. Shaking his head slightly, he looked up at the ceiling and blew his breath out. "It looks like we're not going to have much chance at solving this problem tonight. If I may suggest this, can we carry on this discussion at some later date? Only I have this business meeting and... you understand." He smiled over at her with fake sincerity while arrogant amusement glinted in his eyes.

Serena opened her mouth and then closed it. Truth was, she wanted Darien go. She wanted some time to gather her frazzled nerves before Seiya came to pick her up. But she wanted to finish this here and now. She didn't want to see Darien again. Did she?

So she smiled back at him, with equal politeness. "Of course. Any time which would be convenient for you to discuss your niece?" She enquired acidly.

Darien's cobalt eyes narrowed. He hadn't missed the sarcasm. Good. "I'm busy all day tomorrow. How about lunch the next day?"

A frown drew Serena's brows together. Lunch? With him? "I-"

"A car will come to pick you up. Will you be at home or at work?"

"I…" Serena hesitated. The truth was she didn't know where she was going to be.

She needed to look for a flat so that she and Diana could move in there. Luna had been very kind about letting them stay with her but Serena could see that Luna's social life was being hampered. Why, just two weeks ago, she had caught Luna and Artemis locked in a passionate embrace and she didn't know which of the two parties had been more embarrassed. Her or the two lovers.

But she could also be over at Seiya's. He had kindly volunteered to help her out with Diana. After the initial dating was over between them, they had found out that they had a lot of things in common and that had brought them both closer together. Both of them thought of each other as a brother or a sister.

"I don't know where I'll be. If you could tell me where you would prefer to eat lunch, I'll make my own way there."

Darien nodded and looked at his watch again. "Very well."

Darien gave her the address and stood up. His large frame loomed over her and his head blocked out the light, making Serena nervous. She stood up too but it didn't make very much of a difference. He was still nearly a foot taller than her. She wasn't small, five foot and seven inches, but Darien made her feel tiny. He couldn't be any less than six foot, a few inches over probably.

They stared at each other. Stormy blue met sky blue. Serena's gaze locked onto Darien's and the air thrummed with tension. Her tongue came out to lick her bottom lip. Darien's eyes darkened and he frowned a little. The he blinked and the spell was broken. Serena took a quick breath and stepped back, looking at the floor. She could tell that she was blushing. She could just feel the heat emanating from her cheeks. What was she thinking?

"Well Ms Carter, I thank you for your hospitality today. Until lunch." He dipped his head and walked towards the door, with Serena following behind him. She jumped when the doorbell rang. Who was it? Oh...

Darien opened the door and Serena peered around his large frame to see Seiya standing uneasily in the doorway. He was carrying a long stemmed rose and was dressed in a dark blue suit. Serena thought proudly of how handsome he looked but then stiffened when she saw the look of distaste appear on Darien's face.

Seiya's gaze went from Darien to Serena. To Darien and then back to Serena again. "Uh, I had no idea that you had a visitor Serena. I'll come back."

Darien turned his gaze on Serena and twisted his lips in derision. Though why he should do that, she had no idea. "Had I known Ms Carter was going to be entertaining a visitor, I would not have troubled her. So I'll leave you two to it. Good night."

With that, Darien acknowledged Serena and Seiya with a nod and strode towards his limo where a chauffer was already out of the vehicle and on his feet, opening the door. Darien got into the limo and the door slammed shut behind him. Seiya and Serena both watched the limo glide away, until the view was blocked by a row of hedges. But she still continued to stare after it with an odd feeling inside her. Something was happening and she didn't know what it was... blinking rapidly, she looked at Seiya and attempted a smile.

"Don't you just look handsome Seiya. Come in for a while. I need to get my purse."

They stepped over the threshold and Seiya closed the door. Serena could sense his curiosity but she wasn't in the mood to talk about the visit and the proposal of marriage. Most girls she knew would want to tell the world that somebody had asked them to get married. But then, Serena's circumstances weren't normal. And she hadn't exactly been asked.

"So you think I look handsome do you?"

Serena gave Seiya a backward glance over one shoulder and smiled teasingly. "Ummmm. Blue suits you."

Serena heard Seiya mutter something. She couldn't be sure but she thought that he'd said something along the lines of 'fat lot of good it does me.' But of course she must have been mistaken.

She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled questioningly. "What did you say?"

Seiya smiled at her but his eyes remained serious. "I said that I think you look beautiful too. Not that you don't always but today..."

He whistled and Serena laughed, picking up her purse and looking into a mirror which hung in front of her. She smoothed her hair down and looked at herself, making a slight face. Everything looked fine, which wasn't the way she was feeling. She had felt so hot before that she was surprised that the little makeup she had put on hadn't melted away.

Seiya cupped her elbow gently and pulled her towards the door. "We've got to get going now. We're going to be late."

She gestured vaguely behind her. "Just a minute. I need to check on Diana."

Seiya sighed and impatiently looked at his watch again. Why did men she was with do that a lot? "Okay. I'll go start the car."

Serena nodded and lightly took the steps two at a time. She peered inside Diana's room where she saw Luna sitting up with the baby in her arms. The older woman saw her and motioned with one finger telling her that she'd be out in a minute. Serena nodded and closed the door. Diana was such a sweet little baby. She had her father's blonde hair and her mother's light blue eyes; she was certainly going to have a lot of men knocking at her door when she got older. And it was going to be her job, as Diana's aunt and substitute mother to make sure that Diana didn't get hurt. God, her head spun at the thought of so much responsibility. Could she do it? Would she mess up?

But before Serena could succumb to the panic she felt boiling below the surface, Luna came out and closed the door.

"She's asleep." She carried on before Serena could get a word in edgewise. "Don't worry. If she wakes up early, I'll remember to change her nappy. If she wants more milk, I have to make sure that it's warm enough without being too hot. And then I have to make sure that I make her burp. I know I know Serena. I may be totally inexperienced but not so that I don't remember how we've been looking after Diana for the past weeks. I know everything okay? Don't spoil your evening by worrying unnecessarily."

Serena sighed and agreed with the point. "I trust you, Luna, I really do, and I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I thought that you couldn't look after her but I'm just protective of her. More so now that Mina and Andrew..."

Luna was silent for a while as she observed the sad expression in Serena's eyes. Really, she thought, those eyes were too beautiful to have such a look in the. They should always be happy and twinkling but instead... poor girl. Luna forced a smile on her face and waved her hands about in the air.

"Too overprotective if you ask me. Now, Seiya's probably waiting and I agree that you should keep a man waiting sometimes, but not too long. It puts them off you."

Serena laughed and said chidingly, "Luna, Seiya's not like that. Not to me anyway."

"Serena, honestly. You have so much to learn. Seiya's a man. You treat all men the same. Husband, lover, boyfriend, friend, whatever. Besides, this will give you practise."

Serena lifted an eyebrow. "Practise? For what?"

"For whom actually. I'm talking about Mr Refatalki. He seems very experienced. Of course you're also going to need experience to handle him."

"I handle him just fine-"

"- oh I don't mean the way you're saying. I'm talking of this in a romantic sense. When it comes down to love and passion, you need a sweet tongue and not the tongue of a viper."

Serena shook her head and forced a laugh even though inside her, something jumped. "Please! I'm not interested in him that way." She turned her head away to hide the light blush covering her cheeks. "Besides, he's trying to take Diana away from me."

"Everyone's interested in him Serena. And as for him taking Diana away from you, what do you expect? She is his niece and so far the only heir to the Refatalki fortune. Now, go. We'll talk about this when you come back. You've kept Seiya waiting long enough. Have fun sweetie."

Luna gave Serena a gentle push towards the stairs, and after a smile and wave, she turned back and disappeared into her room. Making her way down the stairs, Serena sighed. She was getting more of a headache with all this. She couldn't handle it. And what was happening to Luna anyway? Whose side was she on? Not Serena's judging by the things she had said.

Closing the door quietly behind her, Serena half ran down the drive to where she could see Seiya parked.

"Finally you've made it. Got lost did you?"

"Sorry, I was just-"

"- never mind." He broke in. "But we're going to be late and the man who hosts these things definitely doesn't like unpunctuality."

"Hosts what things?" She shot him a glance she got into the passenger seat beside him.

"Business dinner. You should know about it but I guess since it's not concerned with your department, you weren't told. We're considering a small merger between our Merchandising Department and one of his Merchandising Managements."

"His? What's his name?"

Seiya shifted uneasily in his seat. "You'll find out soon enough. I don't really know much about him."

Serena stared at Seiya suspiciously as he shifted nervously in his seat again. Something was going on here. "Does this concern me? Is that why you're not telling me anything?"

"What? No don't be ridiculous. This has nothing to do with you, at all. Everybody's advised to bring a partner and I chose you. Is that so bad?" Seiya's voice sounded way too defensive for her like.

"Noo." Serena said slowly. "Or it wouldn't be if you tell me everything."

"You'll find out Serena don't worry about that. Now, this area is kind of tricky. I've only been here once before and I got lost then. We can't afford to now as we're already late so if you don't mind...?"

Seiya left the question unfinished but Serena got his drift. He was using this excuse as not answering her. She leaned back on her seat and relaxed slightly. He was right. If he didn't want to tell her, it didn't matter. She would find out everything soon enough. What she would find out, she wasn't sure off, and she didn't even know why she was making a big deal out of this. She just knew that this night was going to be spoiled. Her evening had already been, why not her night too?

"Ah. Ms Carter. Mr Granger. You've made it. But you're late."

Seiya started on an excuse but Mr Harris waved it off.

"Never mind. No harm done. The big boss is late himself. But make sure you don't make this mistake again please. We would really benefit from this merger so I don't want anything to spoil our chances. Now, go take some refreshments. I'll give you both a call when he arrives. It will be your job to be pleasant to him and make sure that he's at ease."

Mr Harris walked off to talk to the assistant director who had also just arrived with his wife in tow. Serena stared after him and smiled. He was just like that. He was strict but friendly strict. He could give an employee the telling off of his or her life and in the same breath ask him or her if their family were doing alright. They all liked him and he was a good employer.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Just... water."

She saw Seiya shake his head in disbelief and go off to the drink's table. She smiled to herself. Seiya just didn't understand why she didn't like alcohol. She could drink it on occasion but after what had happened... even if it had been years ago, it had been very traumatic and had left a permanent scar on Serena. She was just fine the way she was. She didn't need alcohol.

Thanking Seiya when he brought her glass over to her, she eyed his glass which held gin and tonic. Not very strong but still... it could effect Seiya. Serena shook her head wryly. With all that had happened today, it seemed as if she had a plan to think about every bad thing that had happened to her. And if that did happen, then she was going to have a break down, because she just wouldn't be able to handle it. She would just have to keep her mind on other things. Like Seiya and how much he drank.

Seiya noticed her look as he took a big sip. "What?"

"I thought you said this meeting was important. You have to impress the big boss and you won't be able to do that if you're drunk." She pointed out.

"I'm not drunk-"

"- not yet-"

"- and I can handle it. Everybody's drinking."

Serena groaned. "Seiya, do you remember what happened last time? You got so drunk that you started to-"

"- I remember I remember. That wasn't exactly my best day Serena but don't worry okay? I won't do anything to embarrass you alright? Even though you have to admit you had fun the last time. It's not everyday a woman gets carried off by Tarzan."

Serena just shook her head and took a sip from her drink. She looked at her watch. God, she was doing it now too.

But when was the big boss getting here? For a man who didn't like unpunctuality, he sure was very late.

At that moment, Mr Harris called to get Serena and Seiya attention. He pointed towards the door and gestured both of them to go there. Serena followed Seiya. She was behind him so she could see who got out of the car but she did hear Seiya. And that was enough.

"Welcome Mr Refatalki..."

Serena tuned out the rest of the sentence. Mr Refatalki? It couldn't... no of course it couldn't. It couldn't be him. For all she knew Refatalki was a very common Greek name. Or if not, Refatalki didn't mean that it had to be him exactly. It could be anybody. His uncle for example. But as Seiya moved out of her way, she knew the truth.

It was Darien Refatalki.

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Sahara Lilium


	3. The announcement

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage. 

These are the answers to some of the questions some readers asked me the last time this story was posted up.

- I realise that Greek men are not selfish, uncaring or anything like that and I apologise for even letting one of you think that I meant that. In my story, because Serena dislikes Darien so much, I deliberately made her think that he has a negative personality. As the story goes on, of course there will be changes because Serena will start to see past her prejudice.

- I know that Refatalki isn't a real Greek name... because I made it up! But in the fic, it is a Greek name. Also, when Serena thinks that it might be a common name, of course she doesn't believe that. She's desperately trying to think that the 'big boss' isn't Darien.

- Today, Kórinthos is called Corinth.

Hopefully, that settled all the questions, but if you still have any, then e-mail me.

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SACRIFICE

Chapter 3

Sahara Lilium

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"Mr Refatalki."

"Ms Carter."

Serena gritted her teeth behind her tightly closed lips as a wave of fury washed over her. Why couldn't he leave her alone? Why did he always have to do something to annoy her? He knew that she didn't want him here. He knew damn him, how much this bothered her, you could see it on his face. His eyes held a gleam and the now familiar half smirk on his mouth held a triumphant bow to it.

Seiya looked from one to the other. Again. He gazed at Serena and brought his brows down in a warning. He didn't want her to spoil this evening, and she wouldn't, Serena vowed. She would show Darien that she wasn't affected by him.

"Mr Refatalki. How fortunate that you were able to get here... on time." She sent a small, polite smile his way. "It must have been a lot of..." She hesitated.

Insult him a little or insult him a lot? Choices choices.

"...well, trouble for you to make your way here."

Darien's eyes narrowed. "Why would it have been a lot of trouble, Ms Carter?"

Serena smiled. A sickly sweet smile. "This isn't what you're used to is it? I mean, I expect that you're used to... a higher quality of... gathering. It must be an experience for you to be here with us poor creatures who are so below your exalted level of plane. But then again, this is only business isn't it? I suspect that you wouldn't be here if it was anything else. Business." She sighed. "God, what sacrifices it demands from us."

Colour ran up his high cheekbones, and Serena felt satisfied as she sensed the way he gritted his teeth in anger. She became aware of Seiya glaring at her and clutching her arm in a painful grip, he dragged her behind him and pasted a smile on his face. Whatever he said next was lost to Serena because she was watching another person come out of the limo.

She was female. She was tall. She was beautiful. Mahogany hair framed her strong face, full lips and determined chin. She wore a long green dress that highlighted the colour of her eyes, and there was a slit on either side of the dress going from the hem to mid thigh, which revealed long, smooth brown legs. Looking at her, Serena felt a bit shabby though she didn't really know why. It wasn't as if she looked- cheap. Quite the opposite in fact. But this woman radiated an aura of coolness, of arrogance and of confidence. She pulsed with it.

Serena turned her attention towards Darien as he went back to the woman and acknowledge her with a smile. An intimate smile. Taking her elbow, he gently pushed her forward a little. He spoke to Seiya but he looked at Serena as if judging to see how she would react.

"Allow me to introduce Lita Larina. Lita, Mr Seiya Granger and Ms Serena... Carter."

Serena frowned as she felt the slight emphasis Darien placed on her surname. What...?

Lita Larina titled her head at them and regarded them both with appraising eyes. "Mr Granger, Ms Carter. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance." She turned her gaze on Serena. "Ms Carter. I am especially pleased to finally have been able to meet you. Darien has told me so much about you and to be honest, I was getting quiet anxious to meet the woman who had him running around in circles."

Serena stared at the woman who claimed to have heard a lot about her. From Darien Refatalki no less. What was she talking about? 'Running around in circles'? Well, it can't have been her she was referring to. Serena could admit that she annoyed Darien very much but him running around in circles because of her sounded a bit too... unbelievable. So Lita Larina must have made a mistake. She must be confusing Serena with another woman who had a similar name.

As the uneasy silence continued, Seiya nudged Serena and smiled at Lita. He looked at her admiringly and gave her his hand to shake, and Serena groaned inwardly when she saw the look on his face.

"We're honoured with your presence. So, if you two would follow us..." He gestured an arm towards the open door just behind them and trailed off.

Lita Larina nodded at him and taking his arm, walked away leaving Serena and Darien behind. Serena scowled a little at Seiya's back as he escorted Ms Larina away without even a backwards look at her. Gee, what a considerate friend he was!

Looking up, she encountered Darien's gaze and her breath lodged in her throat. What was it with her anyway? It wasn't as if Darien was giving her the same look Seiya had viewed Lita with. In fact, his eyes had a faintly insulting expression in them as if he had given Serena a test and she had failed- with flying colours.

He spoke up. "I suppose the polite thing for me to do would be to give you my arm but I hesitate..."

He gave an elegant shrug and extended his arm. Serena didn't want to but found herself placing her right arm in his, and hot colour stained her cheeks as she found herself thinking that his arm wasn't fat as it should have been considering his huge size but instead, it had a strong, firm feel of it being muscled. It was disconcerting. She wasn't used to this and she didn't want this. Especially not with the man who had made Mina's life so uncomfortable.

This was just due to all the stress of the past few weeks. And it wasn't as if Darien Refatalki was feeling the same pull she was. He wasn't. Well, if he was, he must be good at hiding it since he hadn't shown it. So, it was all one sided and Serena had better pull herself together before she made a fool of herself. Over a man. Just a month after her sister and brother-in-law's funeral. The thought immediately sobered her up. How could she have forgotten?

Mina. Andrew. She had loved them so much and now they'd been taken away from her. She'd be damned before she let Diana be taken away from her as well. That little baby was staying with her, no matter what price she had to pay, and if it was marriage, well so be it... but she really didn't want to get married. Not to Darien Refatalki anyway. She couldn't.

"Serena?" His voice intruded into her thoughts and she looked up to find that they were standing in a circle and the group of people were all staring at her.

She aimed a small smile at every-one. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. If you would care to repeat that...?"

Mr Harris glared at her but she ignored him. She had more important things to think about, like why Darien hadn't let go of her arm, and why nobody thought there was anything wrong with that. Serena tried to unobtrusively to break her arm free from Darien's grip but his hand only tightened on her elbow.

Lita Larina smiled politely and repeated her question. But it turned out to be a question that Serena didn't want to hear. "I hear that congratulations are in order Ms Carter."

"Congratulations?" Serena repeated, puzzled.

Her brow furrowed. Congratulations? What was she talking about? She hadn't met Lita Larina before in her life and the only thing she could have heard about Serena was Mina and Andrew's deaths. And that wasn't something to be congratulated on.

"Yes. Congratulations." Lita prompted. "On the engagement."

"Engagement?" Serena echoed again.

She saw Mr Harris stifle a smile and she could understand why. She was sounding like a really dumb parrot. But what was Ms Larina talking about? Who's engagement?

"Yes. On your engagement." She smiled. "To my esteemed friend here."

She nodded towards Darien who was standing slightly behind Serena with an expressionless face. Apparently, he wasn't surprised and that meant that he had known about the fact that news of their engagement had spread. Falsely of course.

She also just realised that he had called her by her name just now. Not Ms Carter but Serena. Which meant that he had already planned all this out. He must have told people about it in the hopes that Serena would have to marry him and therefore make sure that Diana was firmly in his clutches. Well, it wasn't going to work. Serena set her chin firmly. She wasn't going to be manipulated, and so, she would just have to thwart Darien's plan and if that meant humiliating him in public... well, that was an extra bonus.

So, curving her lips in a sweet smile, she tightened her hand on Darien's sleeve and dug her nails into his arm. She had a feeling that he didn't feel a thing and that only heightened her infuriation.

She looked around at everybody and raised her eyebrows as if this fact had really surprised her. "I'm sorry but you must have heard wrong. I'm not engaged and if I was, it wouldn't be to a man who has no idea of-"

Darien interrupted Serena and turned towards her with a rueful smile which was meant to convey amused affection to their audience, but she could see that he was angry. Twin fires were burning in those dark blue orbs of his. Good. It was time somebody threw Darien Refatalki off his high horse because he'd been spending too much time on it lately.

"Forgive me darling. I know you wanted it to be a secret for a while longer but in my enthusiasm, I let slip our engagement and plans to marry. I just couldn't keep it bottled up inside me any longer. I want the world to know about us."

What? Serena's mind went blank as everybody else congratulated them once again and a few women brought out their kerchiefs to wipe their tears at hearing such a romantic tale. Serena turned furious eyes on Darien. What was he doing? How dare he? She opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she thought of him but before she could, he'd already opened his own mouth to voice more lies. So what if she herself had been contemplating agreeing to his proposal? He had no right to do what he had done. She knew that by morning, this would be on every newspaper's society columns.

Darien Refatalki was very famous and even if he was caught shopping in a supermarket or something- not that it would ever happen- it would make big news. Serena couldn't really see what the deal was but she guessed that some people regarded the Greek in the same category as, oh, really famous Hollywood stars. (And even then, she couldn't really see what the big deal was- Hollywood stars were just people, just humans like every-one else.) He was a multi-millionaire and even if she didn't like the fact, he was also very handsome. A combination most people thought of as a very large aphrodisiac.

"Serena honey."

Serena frowned. She hated being called darling or dear or honey. They just didn't seem very romantic to her. Calling someone honey was like calling them jam. Why couldn't men be a little more original? They should make a nickname up that was for them alone to call their girl. But, hey if Darien preferred calling someone food, then who was she to argue?

Serena brought all her acting powers on hand and looked at Darien with tender amusement in her eyes. "Darien, muffin."

She saw his face flinch in surprise and out of the corner of her eye, she saw everybody else struggle to hide or disguise their smiles and grins.

"You know I've told you I don't like being called honey. And now that everybody else knows about our engagement, don't you think you should let loose all the pretence and call me by the name you usually call me by?"

Darien frowned down at Serena. Irritation gleamed in his cobalt eyes and even as Serena felt as if she was making a mistake, she couldn't stop herself from continuing. "Why not call me your... babe...y like you always do?"

Serena made the word baby sound very suggestive and in everybody's mind, it would mean the same... naughty thing. She smiled up at Darien as she noticed the flare of anger in his eyes when everybody around them coughed to try to hide their laughter. Seiya was looking at her as if he'd never seen her before, and she couldn't really blame him. She didn't know herself either. What was she doing? In trying to embarrass Darien, she was also embarrassing herself.

Mr Harris's face beamed at the two of them and he gestured towards where the other board members were waiting. "If we could please start the meeting, Ms Carter, I'm sure that Mr Refatalki is eager to commence and get it over with. As for your engagement, I offer you my sincere good wishes and I'll make sure that this fact is announced today."

He smiled again and nodded towards Seiya and Darien to follow him. Serena stayed besides Darien since she was expected to but she made sure that he could sense the cold vibes she was giving him. He might have noticed but he gave no sign of it.

Serena cringed inside when the announcement about her engagement was made, and she sensed Darien's amusement when he noticed her clenched hand. She scowled when Mr Harris requested the fiancé and fiancée to start the dance. She wanted to refuse but couldn't since it would have upset Mr Harris and after all that had happened, nothing of it had anything to do with him. Serena could also sense that he was very pleased at the fact that Serena was engaged.

She had dated in the past but for many months now, she hadn't been in a serious relationship. She just couldn't commit herself, not after what had happened and- Serena refused to go there. It had already given her enough mental anguish.

She knew that Mr Harris worried about her because he found something wrong with the fact that such a beautiful healthy woman- his words not hers- wasn't involved in a mutually satisfying and loving relationship.

Serena admitted to herself, deep inside her mind, that if she had tried enough, she could have had that sort of a relationship with Seiya. He was everything she could ever want in a man, but they had gotton involved too soon after the accident. Besides, maybe not at first, but later on, she hadn't thought of Seiya in the role of a lover. He had been there for her when she had regained consciousness in the hospital and it had been due to his unwavering support and patience that Serena had emerged from the dark, black hole of her mind, weary but triumphant. After that, well, they had dated but Serena had slowly come to realise that though she loved Seiya, it was only the love for a brother she had for him and not the love which would have enabled her to spend the rest of her life with him. So, she had broken it off with him, and the rest as they say, was history.

Wrenching her mind back to the present, Serena stood up in the face of the applause she was getting and smiled a little nervously at everybody. She could see that Seiya was feeling a little down, and she couldn't really blame him, poor guy. He was her best-friend nowadays, had been after they found out that they couldn't have a romantic relationship. He must be feeling a little hurt that she hadn't told him such big news. She'd explain to him what had happened, but she wouldn't tell him the whole truth. Nothing would make her admit to him how stupid she had been but she'd tell him part of it... maybe.

Slow music wafted across the dance floor and Serena stiffened as Darien took her in his arms. She held herself aloof and pulled back when he attempted to slip a hand on her back and pull her closer to him. She froze when he bent down and brought his mouth close to her ear. His lips lightly brushed the delicate shell and Serena tried desperately hard not to shiver. What was it about this man that made her loose her control?

"Relax."

Warm breath brushed the side of her cheek and she closed her eyes as something uncoiled at the pit of her stomach. She tried to speak but her lips were too dry. She licked them and tried again.

"What are you doing?" Her voice emerged as a dry, breathy wisp of a sound.

Darien's lips moved in the parody of a smile. "What engaged couples do."

"We're not engaged-"

He ignored her. "I'm also doing what these people are expecting me to do."

Darien pulled back a little and Serena was forced to slide her arms around his neck. He hooked his thumb under her chin and tilted her face up to his, making Serena's breath hitched in her throat as she saw how close their faces were, how close their lips were. She could see herself reflected in the dark, dark depths of his eyes.

Serena mentally groaned. What was she doing? Why was she doing this? She couldn't do this, she had Diana to think about. She tried to pull back a little but, again, Darien's arm behind her restricted the movement, and so she contented herself with pulling her head further back, trying to ignore the ridiculous picture she made with her head sticking so far back.

She tried to inject a note of strong determination in her voice." Tomorrow you had better tell people that the engagement has been called off."

Darien raised his left brow and drawled, "Why would I do that?"

"Because I don't want to marry you!" Her voice rose shrilly at the end of the sentence.

Darien glanced around him and that reminded Serena of where they were. She hoped that no-one had heard her or tongues were going to wag more than they were already wagging.

"Let's get out of here. I don't want anyone else to hear our conversation. That would give a bad impression and I assure you that you wouldn't like that... babe...y."

Serena blushed. Oh why oh why had she thought of that name? Come to think of it, she didn't even like it. The word baby made her visualise a picture of some dumb blonde or a very provocative woman, who was dating a hard core biker or a playboy or something.

Darien took her by the arm, and walking around the other couples on the dance floor, they made their way over to an open balcony which led out to a darkened garden. Serena didn't want to go there, because it seemed too private, too intimate. She slowed down but Darien didn't give her a chance to protest as he swept her ahead of him, onto the balcony and further on towards a corner of the garden, where nobody could see them, where nobody could hear them, and where they were alone. Together.

Uh-oh.

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Sahara Lilium


	4. The acceptance

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

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SACRIFICE

Chapter 4

Sahara Lilium

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Serena pulled her arm free from Darien's grasp and he let her. He cocked his eyebrow at her and flung his hands out. "You wanted to talk to me? Well, talk."

Serena nervously smoothed down her dress. "Why did you tell Ms Larina that we were engaged?"

"I asked you to marry me. You said-"

Serena furiously shook her head. "I didn't say yes. And you had no right-"

Darien broke in bitterly. "Do not talk to me of rights. You know nothing of rights."

Serena stared at him. He had sounded way too bitter for it to be only about Diana. She had a feeling that for a moment there, Darien was talking about something else. He had been hurt before. Serena's features softened a little as she thought about it. So the man was human after all... but that still didn't give him the 'right' to take control of other people's lives.

She tempered down her temper and tried to speak to him in a reasonable tone of voice. "Maybe. But don't you think you should have waited for me to say yes?"

Darien shrugged causally and thrust his hands into his trouser pockets. "You've said it yourself that you were going to say yes. I can't afford to waste a lot of time and the earlier you and I are married, the better."

Serena stared at him and exhaled sharply. "You sure don't give much importance to Diana do you?"

"I do Ms Cater but unlike you, I don't think that my whole existence should evolve around the child."

Serena opened her mouth but closed it again when she noticed the faint hint of smugness in Darien's eyes. Oh, how he infuriated her!

"Well, Darien." She drawled out his name, slowly.

The smugness vanished.

Serena looked at him with a surprised expression. "Why surely you do think I should call you Darien don't you? I mean, we are engaged and that is what engaged couples do. Call each other by their given names?"

Darien slashed a hand through the air in annoyance. "If you insist on doing what engaged couples do, I would suggest that you do not go home alone tonight."

Serena paused and as the meaning sank in, she blushed. She was glad that the lighting in the garden was dim, because this way, Darien couldn't see her face clearly. Why had she blushed? It wasn't that embarrassing, but it seemed as if in front of Darien, she became extra innocent, as if she had never heard any of these sexual innuendoes before.

So she took cover under the disguise of self-righteous anger. "We're not engaged! How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Darien shifted as if bored with the conversation. "Fine. We're not engaged. I'll contact my lawyers immediately and have them prepare the papers for a custody fight. I suggest that you do the same Serena bab-y." He paused and smiled wolfishly. "Also, to even the odds a little, let me give you some advice. You're going to need lawyers, and good ones at that, if you even wish to dream about winning."

So saying, Darien turned as if to go back inside. Panic burst inside Serena. She put out a hand and touched his sleeve to stop him from leaving.

"Wait."

Darien stopped but stayed with his back turned. "Yes?"

Serena hated it but she couldn't keep the pleading tone out of her voice. "Don't contact your lawyers."

Darien still didn't turn around. "Why? I want Diana, and since you're not going to give her up, a custody battle is what you'll get. But I warn you Serena, my lawyers are very experienced and are rated as one of the best in the country. I would tell you to think twice about facing off with them in court because there is no chance that you'll win."

Serena dropped her hand from where it still rested on Darien's arm. She took a deep breath and looked at the ground. "I don't want you to contact your lawyers because I don't want a custody battle."

This time Darien turned around. He elevated a brow. "You mean you will give me Diana?"

Serena shook her head and waited for Darien to catch on. If he did, he didn't show it.

"Well then? How will a custody battle not be necessary?"

Serena took a deep breath. He was going to make her say it, and she didn't want to. Fine, so she had thought about it and agreed to it in her head, but saying it out loud was a whole different matter. It would somehow be more final, more real, but she had to do it for Diana's sake.

Serena lifted her head at this last thought. She had to do it. "You know what I mean."

Darien folded his arms and shook his head.

Serena grinded her teeth together. "Okay. Fine. Be like that..." Serena stopped and bit her lip. She really didn't want to continue.

"Well?"

Serena closed her eyes and took another deep breath. "I'll marry you."

There. She'd said it. Opening her eyes, she watched as Darien straightened.

"There." He smiled at her. "That wasn't very hard was it? Now, we have to discuss the date for the wedding."

Serena knotted her fingers together. Wasn't Darien going a little fast? "I- don't you think you're hurrying things a little?"

Darien shook his head and putting out an arm, propelled Serena forward. "It has to be soon. We have to get this over and done with and continue with our lives."

Serena opened her mouth and closed it again. Why was she letting Darien boss her around? Where was all her anger? Her dislike of Darien? They were there so why wasn't she acting on them?

Darien's voice broke into her thoughts. "We'll discuss this the day after tomorrow. At lunch like we originally planned. You will make your own way there, yes?"

Serena nodded and Darien didn't give her a chance to say anything. He grabbed her arm and starting walking towards the open balcony door, Serena trailing after him. What had just happened? She had agreed to marry Darien. Why had she agreed to marry Darien? Because she hadn't had a choice, and so there wasn't anything she could do about it. A worried frown marred Serena's forehead as she thought about the fact that marriage was very final. Was she ready to take that step? And with Darien of all people?

As the noise of the hall penetrated through Serena's thoughts, she straightened up and lifted her chin. She had made her choice, and there was no going back now. She would go through with this marriage like she had gone through with everything else in her life. She could do it. She could. Serena momentarily slowed. There was no could about it. She had to do it.

"Serena?"

Serena inwardly groaned as she shifted the phone onto her other ear. It was Seiya. She really wasn't in the mood to talk about what had happened earlier on. After Darien and Serena had gone back inside, Serena had to endure the sly glances which had been thrown her and Darien's way. Seiya had tried to corner her on several occasions, but each time Darien had intervened. Then, when the meeting was over, Seiya had come over to take Serena home but Darien had again interrupted him and had insisted on taking his fiancée home himself. After that, in the limo, Serena had to sit in an atmosphere so thick with tension that she could barely breathe.

Most of the tension was emanating off Lita, and Serena could understand that. Lita's lover was about to get married to someone else and she had to sit there and endure it. What else could Lita be but Darien's lover? The understanding between those two was so evident that it was clear that they were close. Very close.

Serena wondered if Darien would continue being with Lita after she was married to him, and then berated herself for even thinking about it. She didn't care if Darien had a hundred mistresses and a- a thousand concubines. He could have them. He could do whatever he wanted.

"Serena!" Seiya yelled, annoyed.

Serena shifted on her feet and lowered her voice to a whisper. She didn't want to wake Luna and Diana. "What?"

Seiya made a sound of disbelief. "You really think you should be asking me this? What? The whole evening has a big question mark on it."

Serena sighed. He was right. He deserved more than a public announcement of her plans, even though she herself had found out about things in the same way as him. Seiya had been a great friend especially after the way he had calmly taken it in his stride when Serena had told me that they couldn't be anything more than friends. Serena knew that he had been disappointed but he sure was something to be able to put his feelings behind him without any resentment.

She should tell him about what had happened and see what advice he gave her.

"Look. Seiya. I can't tell you-"

Seiya broke in. "You can't tell me? Why the hell can't you tell me?"

"I was going to say that I can't tell you now. I'll meet you somewhere and tell you everything then."

Serena heard Seiya expel his breath in an effort to calm himself. "Okay. But your reason as to why you're throwing your life away better not have anything to do with keeping Diana. You deserve more than that."

Colour spread across Serena's cheeks. Sometimes Seiya knew her so well. "After you have a child, you have to put the child's well-being before your own."

"I realise that Serena, but Diana is not your daughter. You're her aunt and you just can't sacrifice your whole life like that. Honestly. Mina and Andrew were together before they died. They knew love and passion, fun and happiness, and you can't just throw your own chance away for the same thing because of... well, you get my point of view. Look after Diana, care for her, love her, but don't make her everything."

Serena was silent. He did have a point but from now on, she was Diana's mother. She had the responsibility of the baby in her hands. "Look. I'll tell you everything later."

Seiya groaned. "Diana is the reason isn't she? Oh Seren-"

"Tomorrow. Your apartment. Bye." Serena hurriedly put the phone down.

She didn't want to talk about it now. Seiya had guessed the reason and now he'd try his best to deter her from it. Sshe knew him very well as well. But what else was there to do? Other than a court battle in which surely Darien would win. He was the only likely candidate. He was Diana's uncle, and he was rich. Whereas even though Serena was Diana's aunt, she wasn't rich. She wasn't poor but if she didn't work, she would be. But then who wouldn't? Expect people like Darien Refatalki of course, who had so much money that generation after generation could live away their whole life in luxury without doing an iota of work. And in this world, it was money that made the most difference.

Shaking her head at the unfairness of life, Serena turned and went into her bedroom. She fell into an uneasy sleep and for the rest of that night, she dreamt about her wedding day where, when saying their final vows, both said 'I promise to love, cherish and protect this baby.'

Serena knocked on Seiya's door the next day and waited for him to open it, which he did it immediately as if waiting for her knock. Serena took a step forward to enter the apartment, but Seiya gently pushed her back out and closed the door behind him. Serena gave him a questioning look.

"We'll go to a cafe. It'll be safer for you this way."

Serena rolled her eyes but some of her nervousness eased as she thought of the fact that Seiya was right. People would be around them and he'd be more inclined to keep in control. He really did have a temper. He didn't loose it often but when he did, you'd be advised to watch out.

Seiya took Serena's arm and she followed him as he led them both to a small café a few blocks away. They didn't talk much during the way expect about small things. The big game that was happening on Saturday, the new book that was coming out soon from the bestseller author.

They didn't talk at all about Diana and Darien.

Sitting down outside the café on a table for four since there weren't any others empty, Seiya opened one of the menu's and gave it to Serena, and she bit her lip as she thought that Seiya must be really angry at her. He always ordered for her when they came to this cafe, because he always seemed to know what she wanted, but now...

They both sat in silence until the waitress gave them their food. Seiya toyed with the food on his plate, until with a groan of frustration, he pushed it away.

"Well?"

Serena stopped pretending to be interested in her food. She raised her eyebrows as if she didn't know what Seiya was talking about. "What?"

Seiya stared at her until she shifted uneasily. "Why are you engaged to that... man?"

Serena attempted to lighten the mood. "Because he asked me to marry him and I said yes. This is called me getting engaged to him."

Seiya glared at her. "Very funny Serena. Now are you planning on spending the rest of your life being a wife to a man who has no interest in you, and never will, and who's married you just to get custody of his niece?"

Serena played with her spoon and gave Seiya a dirty look. "What do you mean he'll never have an interest in me?"

Seiya leaned back in his seat as he made his point. "Come on Serena. Darien Refatalki goes for more sophisticated women, who know the score for relationships with him."

Serena just scowled down at the tablecloth. She knew that Seiya wasn't talking utter nonsense. He was just telling her as it was. So why did it bother her so much?

"Serena."

Serena looked over at Seiya at the soft way he spoke her name. She tried to smile as she saw the concern in his eyes. He cared about her, as a brother, an older brother, so of course he wanted to know all the details. He really should be told the truth.

Serena gave a huge sigh. "I don't really want to marry him, you should know that. But I have to, I haven't got a choice."

He gave her a disbelieving look. "Everybody always has a choice."

Serena nodded. "You're right. But my choice is no choice at all. Darien's-"

"Oh it's Darien now is it?"

Serena ignored him. "Darien's a very rich and influential man. There would have been a custody battle and what are the odds of my winning?"

Seiya was silent for a while and then he twisted his lips derisively. "So he blackmailed you into marriage did he?"

Serena opened her mouth to deny that statement, but Seiya was right. Darien had blackmailed her into marriage. Kind of. "Yeah, I guess he did, but I want to keep Diana. She's all I have of Mina and Andrew."

Sudden tears took her by surprise. She hadn't cried for a couple of days, so why was she starting now? It was probably from all the emotional baggage she had been gathering over the past few weeks. It threatened to totally swamp her and she was trying her hardest to deal with it and do the right thing.

Seiya made a soothing sound and slipped into the chair by Serena. He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him. Serena went willingly and let Seiya's quiet presence take her tears away. She stayed like that for a while listening to the sound of Seiya's heartbeat. He was such a terrific guy. It was a pity that he wasn't her type.

She frowned when she felt Seiya's body freeze. Jerking back, she turned a questioning face up to his but noticed that his attention was fixed on something behind her. She turned to look at what had captured his attention and her mouth opened on a silence gasp of surprise as she saw the pair who were just standing a couple of feet behind her.

It was Darien and Lita Larina!

----------

Sahara Lilium 


	5. The meeting

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

----------

SACRIFICE

Chapter 5

Sahara Lilium

----------

Serena opened her mouth and then closed it again. Vaguely she heard Seiya swear under his breath but she didn't wonder why, it was obvious. What the hell were Darien and Lita doing here? Were they following them? Serena immediately rolled her eyes mentally at the thought. Lita and Darien were way too sophisticated to follow any-one anywhere. 

Seiya stood up as the pair approached. Serena wanted to remain sitting but not only was that childish, it would only serve to amuse Darien. Besides, as far as she knew, Lita hadn't done anything to her, and so Serena stood up as well.

Seiya inclined his head slightly, as if in greeting but Serena could feel the waves of dislike coming off him. She silently prayed that he wouldn't say anything to Darien about the unusual circumstances of their coming marriage.

"Mr Refatalki. Ms Larina. It's a surprise to see you here."

Darien shook the hand that Seiya held out but Serena could see the frosty look in his eyes. He turned towards her and she frowned as she saw that he was smiling at her. Coming over, he reached out a hand and put it on her shoulder to pull her closer. Serena blinked as she felt the soft brush of lips on her forehead. It lasted for only a second but... why had Darien kissed her? Okay so it wasn't a proper, passionate kiss but she had always thought that a kiss on the forehead meant tenderness. And Darien had no tender feelings for her... did he?

No of course not. Serena shook her head and brought herself out of her reverie to find that Darien had been talking the whole time and that Seiya was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. It could have been bitterness but there was no reason why that should be, so it was probably just annoyance at Darien's and Lita's unexpected appearance.

"The surprise is ours. I hope you don't mind if Lita and I join you?"

Darien didn't wait for an answer. He pulled out the spare chairs and after Lita sat down next to Seiya, he took the chair beside Serena. An uneasy silence fell over the table and as Serena looked at Darien, she noticed that he was staring at her with rage in his eyes. Why was he so angry? Darien held her gaze for a little while longer before turning to Seiya.

"So, what are you and Serena doing here?"

Seiya smiled. "Oh Serena and I regularly have at least one meal together. This is quite usual. And we felt like... talking so we came here."

Serena saw Darien's mouth tighten and she shifted uneasily. Why oh why had Seiya chosen this particular café to come to today? Why did Darien and Lita have to show up here right when Serena and Seiya were there? Speaking of Lita, Serena glanced at her, and she was taken aback when she noticed that the other woman's regard was fixed unblinkingly on her. Once again Serena wondered about Lita. Who was she really? She couldn't help feeling that Lita was hiding something and it had something to do with Serena.

Turning her attention back to the two men again, she detected an air of reserve in their manner. Darien and Seiya were looking at each other and it would have been no stretch of the imagination to say that it wasn't a friendly look. Instead, Seiya looked like he hated Darien and Darien looked like he wanted to kill Seiya right there with his bare hands. Just what was going on here?

Serena uneasily looked at the table top as the uncomfortable silence continued. The silence was broken however, by the waitress who came and gave two menus to Lita and Darien. In her mind Serena thanked the woman for breaking the tense atmosphere.

Darien and Lita buried their heads in the menus, and Serena let out a sigh of relief as the tension abated slightly. She looked at Seiya, who just shrugged making Serena roll her eyes. Men were so predictable in some cases. They could never admit that they were being bull headed. Seiya grinned at Serena ruefully and she returned it, with fondness in her smile. Darien lifted his head at that moment and at witnessing the shared look between the two, a frown appeared between his brows.

"So is there anything particular things that you recommend?"

Seiya's head whipped towards Darien, who lifted his eyebrow when Seiya didn't say anything. "You did say that you and Serena frequently eat together?"

As Serena watched, a faint sneer twisted Seiya's mouth, and that surprised her because Seiya was always so good natured with everyone. But not with Darien. He was different with him, more rude, more unfriendly, more hostile, and somehow, his change of feelings had occurred today, after she had told him about the real reason she was getting married to Darien. But to be totally honest, he had been disturbed ever since the night when he found out about the engagement.

"We eat together but I didn't say that we come to this café. Serena and I go to other places and occasionally we stay at home."

Serena stared at Seiya and wondered what had come over him. Looking towards Lita, as she saw her menu waver a little, Serena caught the edges of an amused smiled which slashed the woman's beautiful mouth. Even the ice queen found this dialogue entertaining. She looked over at Darien and saw that his lips were compressed together tightly. Shooting a reproachful glance at Seiya, she turned to smile politely at the man who was her... fiancé. It didn't seem real somehow.

"I suggest the lightly-pickled Italian soup followed by the fried fish in French sauce. As for dessert..." Serena pressed her lips together as she pretended to think about it. "I'd go for the cream cake. It's specially made with a blend of sweetness and sourness. Very tasty."

Darien didn't say anything but Lita lowered her menu and smiled at Serena. "Sounds delicious. I didn't have any breakfast, so an early lunch won't matter, and I'm anxious to see whether it's as tempting as you make it sound. I'd also be interested in acquiring the recipes if they live up to the high standard that you think they merit."

Serena frowned. "Recipes?"

Darien spoke before Lita could do more than nod her well groomed head. "Lita is a renowned international chef, and I have to say that her fame is well deserved." He turned and smiled at the renowned international chef.

Serena stared at Lita. She couldn't imagine that cool beauty ever slaving in the kitchen. Lita caught her eyes and maybe she sensed what Serena was thinking because she let an amused smile curve the sensual line of her lips and a sparkle appeared in her eyes. Then, just as suddenly, the smile faded from her face and she quickly looked down. But before she had veiled her eyes, Serena saw something in the depths of the green eyes which moved her.

It wasn't exactly sadness, but more like the feeling of loss. Of utter, heart-breaking despair. Serena frowned as she thought about that. Was that why Lita was so distant? It could be that she didn't know Serena and Seiya but it could also be the fact that she was still suffering from something that had happened in the past. Serena would bet on the something happening in the past. Lita didn't quite seem the quiet, silent, mousy type. She seemed more of the straight-forward, blunt type who did things impulsively and without a regard as to what others thought of her.

An uneasy silence hovered around the group again and Serena stared at the tablecloth. Why did Darien and Lita have to show up here? Well, there was no other way of getting an answer but by asking it.

"Darien?"

His head jerked up at the sound of her voice. Serena could see Seiya looking at her but she refused to look his way. She could sense that Lita was also listening to the conversation.

She tried to smile at him. "You haven't told me what you and Ms Larina are doing here."

He stared at her for a while before turning to smile gently at Lita. "We were thinking of having a light brunch."

Seiya spoke up. "Oh? And you just happened to be passing by this café at this exact time?"

Darien turned his icy gaze on Seiya and Serena's lips twisted as she swallowed back a groan. Seiya was really sweet, willing to argue with Darien for her sake, but maybe he shouldn't pick up the other man on every word. It seemed... childish.

"I don't understand what you're implying Mr Granger."

Seiya leaned forward, towards Darien with an aggressive scowl on his face. "Let me spell it out for you then. I think you're following Serena. Stalking her actually-"

Darien shot up in his seat and glared at Seiya. Turning to Serena, he bent down and pulled her up by her arm. Ignoring Seiya completely, he looked at Lita and smiled. "I'm sorry but maybe you can see yourself home? Serena and I have to talk and I think we should do it now. I don't want to talk here with him-" Darien jerked his head towards a scowling Seiya. "- as a spectator whose whole life revolves around entering other peoples' business when it has nothing to do with him."

Without waiting for an answer, he pulled Serena along behind him and she stumbled slightly as she tried to keep with Darien's rapid pace. Before she turned to face the way they were going, Serena saw the astonished and then slightly hurt look on Lita's face. The rat! How dare Darien do that to Lita? How could he be so insensitive as to just leave Lita there? Didn't he have any feelings for others? Obviously not.

She didn't dare look at Seiya.

Serena was about to give her opinion of his behaviour but before she could, Darien opened the door of a limo and swept her inside. She opened her mouth but closed it again without uttering a word as Darien leaned in and bodily shifted her over. Then, sliding into the space next to her, he closed the door and tapped on the glass pane in front of them. It was obviously a signal because the limo's engine purred and it joined the main stream traffic.

"What was that?" Serena spoke through gritted teeth as it sank in exactly what Darien had just done.

Darien turned his attention to Serena. He didn't pretend to misunderstand her. "I'm your fiancé. I have a right to talk to you whenever I wish."

Serena gritted her teeth in the face of such chauvinism. It couldn't be anything else. Having that you-belong-to-me-and-I'm-your-master attitude was something she had an idea that practically all men secretly viewed as being their right. Well, possessive, sexist men like him anyway.

"Does that right include you ditching your mistress?"

Darien lifted his eyebrows. "My mistress?"

Serena pursed her lips together. "Yes. Lita Larina. You just left her, with no concern for her feelings, and do you have any idea about how rude you were to Seiya?"

Darien's eyes began to burn and Serena could see that he was still incensed. Livid actually. Hell, he had been furious the whole time they had been sitting in the café, but he had just hid it. Well, he had hid it for as long as he could.

"Ah. Seiya Harris. That black-haired, black-eyed man who you regularly have a meal with."

Serena stared at him but didn't say anything. What was Darien getting at now?

"You care for him?" Darien's enquiry was stilted as if he'd forced himself to ask it.

Serena hesitated before answering. "Yes. Yes, I do. Very much."

He nodded and stared out of the window. Serena looked at his profile and by the clenching of his jaw, she knew that her answer had angered him further. But why should it? It wasn't his business what her feelings for Seiya were. Serena said as much to him and his head jerked around to stare at her.

"You think not? I'm your fiancé. I'll soon be your husband. How can you say that your feelings for another man have nothing to do with me?"

Another man? Is that how he viewed Seiya? Serena bit back a grin at the thought. He wouldn't appreciate her laughing at his expense.

That's what prompted Serena to use a gentle tone of voice when she wanted to hiss and spit at him. "Seiya is just a friend-"

Darien interrupted her before she could carry on. "Yet there is something between the two of you."

Serena thought about it. There had been something between them but it was gone now. They had agreed to be friends, just friends. So maybe she should tell him about it, in the hopes that it might ease his mind a little about the 'other man'.

"Seiya and I used to date. Used to. We broke up and became just friends."

Darien froze. "You used to date him?"

He said it in a tone of voice which suggested that he found the notion unbelievable. Immediately Serena's defences went up. "What's so amazing about that?"

Darien shrugged. "He doesn't seem your type."

Even though Serena agreed with him, he had no right to make such comments. "Oh? And what would you consider my type to be?" She meant her voice to be cutting but evidently Darien didn't take it like that.

He just lounged back in his seat and Serena saw an amused gleam enter his eyes. "Me."

Serena's eyes widened and she stared at him. He stared right back at her and even though the beginnings of a smile twisted his mouth, she could sense his anger building at her look of shock at such a thought. He knew that she had never even thought about it, and that didn't make him happy. But why shouldn't it? Didn't he want a wife who wouldn't complicate his life? After all, Serena didn't intend being a real wife to him. He'd get joint custody of Diana but she'd live in another house with her niece. The two wouldn't even be living together.

As the staring match continued, Serena asked herself what she was doing. Why was she just sitting here, gazing at him as if mesmerised? Why hadn't she continued to question him about what he thought he was doing? The thought made her snap out of her stupor and shake her head slightly to get rid of the disturbing thoughts that had been residing in her mind while she had gazed into the dark blue orbs of her fiancé's eyes. Her fiancé. She needed to get used to the fact.

"Where are you taking me?

Darien briefly glanced at her, looked out of the window, and then turned his eyes on her again. "We're going to get the marriage license to get married."

----------

Sahara Lilium 


	6. The license

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

----------

SACRIFICE

Chapter 6

Sahara Lilium

----------

"Marriage license?" Serena stared at Darien as if he'd suddenly grown an extra head which was spouting rubbish.

In reality he might not have grown an extra head but he was certainly spouting rubbish.

He calmly looked back at her as if there was nothing with what he'd said. "Yes. We need a marriage license to get married."

"Yes but..." She trailed off uncertainly.

Serena grimaced as she thought about the fact that she didn't know what to say. What Darien was saying made sense but so soon? Why couldn't he wait for oh say, two or three or even four years before they got married? There were things like really long engagements.

"Why are we getting married so early?"

Why did they have to get married at all? The question spun in Serena's mind and she answered it as she always did. Because she didn't have a choice. Oh people said that you always had a choice, but Serena didn't. Not in this case. If she wanted to loose Diana, then she had a choice. But otherwise... no.

Darien looked at her and watched the conflicting emotions flick across her face. Confusion, dismay and finally resignation.

Serena came to the decision she always came to when thinking about this topic and she sighed wearily. "Do you know where we can get a marriage license from?"

Darien looked at her disbelievingly. "I'm not in the habit of blindly heading for places, when I don't know where they are."

"You did rush off from the café, rather impulsively I thought. So you might have..." Serena stopped and bit her lip.

Darien finished the sentence for her. "Made an excuse? Lied? To get you alone?" When Serena didn't say anything, Darien took her silence for an assent. "Come now Serena. You presume too much."

Hot colour flooded her cheeks at Darien's mocking tone, and Serena silently cursed her tongue. Now Darien would have the impression- a totally wrong impression- that Serena thought that everything he did was to do with her. He must think she was very arrogant.

Trying to ignore Darien's amused gaze, Serena tried to distract him. "Can we get a marriage license just now? I mean, aren't we supposed to have blood tests done?"

"You don't worry about that. I've handled it."

"You have?" Serena stared at him blankly. "But where did you get my blood from?"

Darien lifted a brow. "I told you. I've handled it."

"Yes but..." Serena lifted one of her hands in an appealing gesture. She knew that she would have to marry Darien so why was she trying to find excuses and reasons in an attempt to delay what she was now beginning to think of as inevitable? Shouldn't she just do it and get it over with? But no.

She had always thought that she would marry for love, like the love that her parents had had for each other. Even though that love had killed them in the end, they'd had a happy life which had been full of happiness and laughter, and she wanted a life like that, a love like that. But how could she have that with Darien?

Some people said that love could grow, if you nurtured it like a delicate flower, but shouldn't there at least be a modicum of respect and liking for a marriage to succeed? Serena didn't like Darien, and she could never respect a man who judged people's worth by their 'bloodline' instead of by their character. She could never forget the pain Mina went through when she realised that Andrew had been 'exiled' as it were, from his family because of her.

So maybe that was the reason why she was trying to delay the marriage. She didn't want to make a mistake and jump into a marriage which might not bring any contentment or gratification.

"But- you have to make an appointment don't you? And you haven't. So how is it possible...?"

Darien looked at her for a few minutes and then nodded his dark head. "I have a friend who's a judge. I told him about us and he agreed to supply us with a marriage license."

Serena's eyes widened at the fact that he had contacts as high as a judge. Though why she was surprised she didn't know. He was rich, so of course he would have friends like judges and- and Prime Ministers and Presidents for all she knew. But the way he had said the sentence sank in, and her eyes narrowed as she regarded him with suspicion.

"You make it sound like he's doing you a favour."

Darien didn't say anything but continued to look at her out of expressionless cerulean eyes. The dark depths showed nothing of what he was feeling and Serena absentmindedly wished that she could do that. When she was feeling something, she could never hide it. Everybody was able to tell what her emotions were.

A flicker of... something appeared briefly in Darien's eyes. She frowned as she saw the small smile which slashed his hard sensual mouth, but it lasted only a second and was gone before she could see it properly. When she still received no answer, Serena turned to look out of the window, feeling a little disturbed though she didn't know why.

Suddenly, a thought struck her. Turning around to fully face Darien, she saw him raise his eyebrows at her panicked face. "We- we're not getting married now are we? I mean, straight after you get the marriage license?"

Darien looked coolly back at her. He didn't say anything immediately as if to see how much she really dreaded the marriage. He wasn't disappointed. As his silence continued, Serena's face got more and more alarmed and her mouth opened and closed as she struggled to think of some sort of reason why they couldn't get married at once.

As he watched the different emotions on her face all ranging from panic to alarm, Darien sighed a little and decided to put her out of her misery. "I'm not going to get the marriage license."

Serena frowned even as a wave of relief enveloped her senses. They weren't getting married. Darien wasn't even going to get the marriage license. But then why was she here? Was she missing a point in this conversation?

"You're not?" She enquired, puzzled.

He shook his head. "No. From now on, I won't do anything... alone. It will be both of us doing things together from now on. So we will get the marriage license. Not me, we."

Serena just looked at him. He was so determined to put them together, in one category. It was alarming when she thought about his persistence on them getting married and being bound by the law as soon as possible. She'd have thought that he would have tried to postpone the marriage for as long as he could. His determination was kind of strange considering the fact that Serena wasn't 'his favourite person', as he'd so eloquently put it once.

But then, he must want to secure Diana into his custody as fast as he could. He was probably afraid that Serena might do something that would take Diana away from him. If she was married to him and ran away with the baby, it would be no problem to get them back because Diana would be half Darien's. Legally anyway which was what seemed to matter a lot nowadays.

Serena sighed and came out of her reverie to the discovery that Darien had been watching her the whole time with a small smile on his face. She didn't know what the smile meant but it was as if his thoughts were giving him great satisfaction.

She bitterly thought that he had a reason to be satisfied. He was getting exactly what he wanted. Diana.

She made one last effort to try and postpone getting the licence. "Don't we need things for a marriage license? Passport, birth certificate?"

Darien lounged back in his seat and shrugged with one shoulder. "We have all we need to get a license, so you can stop finding excuses to delay the inevitable. We are getting married and the sooner the better in my opinion."

Serena let out a little sigh and turned her face towards the window, away from Darien before mumbling under her breath. "Your opinion isn't worth anything to us humans, anyway. It's way above the likes of us mere mortals."

She didn't know if her voice reached Darien but maybe it did because he chuckled a little as if her remark had amused him.

It probably had amused him and Serena scowled darkly at the thought. He didn't care about what others thought of him. That was probably what made him so successful... at everything. He did what needed to be done.

Wasn't that the truth! Look at the way he had introduced Serena as his fiancée. There were many people who were probably making fun of him. After all, being who he was, a multi-millionaire, Serena knew that he had been expected to marry someone with the same social standing as him, and even though Serena wasn't poor, she wouldn't be considered rich either. Which made her an 'unfitting' wife for Darien.

Maybe that was a good thing though. This way, she might not be expected to do what wives usually did with and for their husbands. Like having sex. Serena was lucky this was a marriage for convenience, because there was no way she was sleeping with Darien. No way. They weren't going to have a relationship like that. Theirs would be a hands off relationship. Nothing more, which was good... so why was Serena a little disappointed? As if she wanted a more intimate relationship?

But no, it couldn't be. She wasn't ready for that with Darien, and she never would be either.

"Let's go."

Serena sighed wearily as Darien grabbed her arm and propelled her along behind him. She was more mentally tired than physically. Who knew that getting a license would take so much effort? But then, maybe for lovers, it wasn't an experience like that. They obviously looked forward to being together, but not Serena. This license was the final nail in her coffin. Sure she wasn't married to Darien yet, but she was well on the way there. Well on the way to giving a man who she didn't like, total control of her life.

Of course he wasn't going to keep her like a slave. She wouldn't tolerate him acting chauvinistic with her. She would have her own life. Though in the eyes of the law, she was his wife, and as far as she knew, even today in the families of the rich and famous, husbands had more power over their wives than the wives had over their husbands.

Considering all that, maybe she should clear any misunderstanding. After all, they shouldn't begin their marriage with any confusion between them. Huh! What a laugh. Like their marriage was going to be perfect. As if they weren't going to face any problems. Most probably more so than the normal couple.

"Darien?"

He might not have heard her with the way he was hurrying towards the limo because he didn't answer her. Or maybe he chose to ignore her. Either way, Serena let herself be dragged behind him towards the limo. They'd have a chance to talk inside.

Slamming the door behind them, Darien leaned his head back against the seat and closing his eyes, let out a sigh of relief, which made Serena eye him curiously. He looked harassed, but what could have changed between the courthouse where they had gotton their license to the walk to the limo? Nobody had stopped to talk to them and as far as Serena knew, nothing drastic had changed. Except for the fact that they had gotton their license, nothing much had happened.

Yeah right! Maybe Darien was feeling the full incredulity of what had happened, but didn't that usually come after marriage? Or was it before? She certainly didn't know. She'd never been married before, or even been invited to a wedding which had been a marriage of convenience.

Darien exhaled again loudly and that drew Serena's attention to his face. His long column of throat. The bronze skin. The stubble on his cheeks and chin. In portrait, Darien was an incredibly handsome man, though nothing compared to when he was face-to-face. She had noticed that, of course she had but she'd chosen not to register that fact before. Darien wasn't used to being ignored, and it seemed as if his looks were in the same category. Always attracting attention. Maybe it would have been better if he was butt ugly.

"Darien?"

His head turned slowly towards her and she blinked at the pleased look she saw in his eyes. "Yes?"

"We have to talk."

He sat up in a fluid movement. "I know. But not now."

She was insistent. "Now Darien. We have to discuss things."

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you really so eager to marry me that whatever you have to say can't wait for later?"

Serena scowled as hot colour invaded her cheeks. Nobody could win an argument with Darien, that's why he was such a brilliant businessman. He tore everything to shreds, using that razor sharp mind of his.

Serena was jolted out of her thoughts when the limo stopped with a jerk. She focused on Darien and saw that he was staring at her.

Serena tried not to be distracted by the fact that her face was burning and she attempted to draw his attention to something else. The argument zone, a place where she felt comfortable. Well, more comfortable that being in the intimate zone, with Darien.

"We have to talk. This is serious okay? Nothing to joke about."

Darien huffed out a laugh. "I'm not joking. I'm taking this very seriously. But you don't seem to be in the state to carry out a conversation like the type that you are suggesting."

Serena sat forward in her seat. "And what state am I in?"

Darien shook his head slightly and turned to look out of the window. "It's obvious that you don't want this marriage. You're planning to take your anger out in the form of an argument, but be warned that I won't oblige you."

Serena sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. She then sighed and uncrossed them as she realised what a childish gesture that was. Looking outside at the passing traffic, she thought about where her life was going. A marriage with a man who thought that she always looked for a fight. A man who used everything for his own convenience. But she had to do it, for Diana. Her body slumped back in the seat as she realised that. She would have to forget her own needs, because Diana was the one who mattered now. No-one else, not even herself.

Serena jumped as she felt a hand on her arm. Turning her head around, she inhaled sharply and her eyes widened as she found that during her contemplation, Darien had moved closer to her, just inches away. Why hadn't she heard him move? Probably because she'd been daydreaming out the window. More like self pitying out the window.

"Darien?" Serena frowned up at him.

He smiled softly at her look of uncertainty. "Really. You've said my name so many times that I might begin to think that you can't stop yourself from saying it."

Serena blinked and then lowered her lashes to hide her eyes. Somehow, she wasn't exactly feeling shock at his statement. It was as if... as if she agreed with him, but of course not. It was a ridiculous thought.

She tossed her head slightly and answered him tartly. "I have to find some way to attract your attention, seeing the way in which you persist on ignoring me."

"Hell is it not? Being ignored. But if you want to attract my attention, I can think of many other ways to do it. Ways more enjoyable than speaking." He bared his teeth at her in the parody of a smile.

Serena stared at him for a while and when she understood what his remark meant, more colour infused her cheeks. God, couldn't the man say one sentence without sexual innuendo featuring in it?

"I don't think so." She waited for him to say something but when he didn't, she continued. "We do have to talk, about when the wedding is and what will happen afterwards."

Darien tilted his head to study her face with intent eyes. The amusement disappeared out of his face, leaving it expressionless, but his eyes weren't blank. Instead, they held an intent look as if he was really studying her to see what her reaction would be.

"The wedding is already arranged. It will be held next week."

----------

Sahara Lilium 


	7. The wedding

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

----------

SACRIFICE

Chapter 7

Sahara Lilium

----------

Serena swore under her breath as she struggled to fasten the veil on her head. Which went with a wedding dress. A white wedding dress. As if this was a real wedding. As if she wanted to wear white to please her groom.

For the hundredth time Serena wondered why Darien wanted a real wedding. Taking into heed every tradition. The white dress. Black tuxedo. Honeymoon. Why did he want a honeymoon? With her? Especially since they wouldn't do any of the things people usually did on a honeymoon. Darien would stay away on business during the day and as for the nights… well, he'd probably go to some woman who would be happy to have him. Or maybe Lita Larina would make her way there to be with her lover during this 'traumatic' time for him.

But Darien had been insistent about it last week. He said that for Diana, they needed to do things properly. She had still been dumbstruck by his announcement that the wedding would be taking place this soon that she hadn't really argued about when, how and where the wedding was to take place. She felt like a hypocrite. After all, she wasn't marrying for love. It would have seemed more right to say their vows in a Registrar Office. But no, he had-

"Serena, need any help?"

She jumped as Luna's voice sounded from behind her. Watching as her friend closed the door behind herself, Serena sighed as she saw the determined look on Luna's face. Turning round to face the mirror again, she closed her eyes against the pounding head ache on the right side of her temple. She always got a headache there when she was truly upset about something. The left side was reserved for when she was at the end of her tether and the whole of her head ached when she was both upset and at the end of her tether. At least that wasn't happening now. 

Luna urged Serena over to sit on her bed so that she could fasten the veil. As her fingers busied themselves with the pins, Luna sighed a little and debated whether to say what she had on her mind or not. Marriage was serious, especially when a baby was involved. It couldn't work if the two parties involved didn't want it to work.

"Excited about becoming a married woman shortly?"

Serena didn't reply in words but kept her eyes shut and just shrugged noncommittally.

"Nervous?" Luna continued on determinedly.

This time Serena opened her eyes and looked at Luna in the mirror. "Aren't all brides?"

Luna countered her question with one of her own. "Happy?"

Serena sighed. "Depends on how you look at it."

Luna 'umm'ed under breath. "How do you look at it?"

"I get to keep Diana."

Luna rolled her eyes mentally. "And?"

Serena turned around to face Luna as she felt that the veil was in place. "And what?"

Luna raised her eyebrows and sat beside Serena. "You get a husband-"

"- whom I don't love."

Luna gritted her teeth. "A man who's handsome-"

"- looks don't matter to me."

Taking a deep breath, Luna prayed for patience. "A wedding-"

"- which doesn't really mean much."

Her shoulders dropped. "Money-"

"- never buys happiness."

At last, she stepped back in exasperation. "Serena! With that attitude, this is going to get nowhere."

Serena sighed and continued to gaze at herself in the mirror. "This sham isn't going to go anywhere anyway, I can tell you that. We'll get married, we'll, now that I think about it, live together, but we'll lead separate lives. It would have been better if Darien had gotton visiting rights or something. We'd probably have seen more of each other than we're going to when married."

Luna sat down beside Serena and put her arm around the other girl's shoulders. "This will work if you try, and I think that Darien Refatalki's willing to give it a go. He's arranged everything as if this is the most important day of his life and you're the woman of his dreams."

Serena snorted as she stood up jerkily. It was getting nearer and nearer to the time when she would have to head for the church. "There's nothing proper about this. The wedding is a sham and the honeymoon's going to be sham."

Luna shook her head wearily and ran her fingers over the light turquoise silk of her Maid of Honour's dress. "I don't think so."

Serena glared at her over her shoulder as she slipped her white slip-ons on.

Luna shrugged. "You'll see what I mean Serena. And now, let's head over to the church. I'm sure Darien's going to be getting worried sick, wondering why you haven't shown up yet."

Serena sighed and looked at herself in the mirror once more. The white gown was made from silk and clung to her body. It was simple yet elegant. Her hair spread down her back in a silvery fall. The veil was delicate and floated over her hair as if it wasn't there. When she'd gotton 'orders' from Darien to go into a particularly expensive shop and choose a white gown, she hadn't wanted to. It had been Luna who had pushed and prodded until she'd given in. This was her first wedding and even though it was a sham and she didn't love the groom, in her heart she wanted it to be something she could look back on.

Serena slowly made her way downstairs where Artemis was waiting for her with Diana in his arms. He was going to give her away in the absence of a male relative. Serena wouldn't have minded if it had been Seiya, but he had refused outright. He hadn't been happy with her plan to marry Darien and so he had said that he wasn't going to give her away when he didn't believe that it was right. He would still come to her wedding, but purely as guest, nothing more.

"Serena, hurry up. We've been waiting for ages."

"Yeah, and if we don't get to the church soon, they'll start thinking that you've jilted your groom."

She turned towards her two bridesmaids, Amy and Raye. They both wore the same dresses but the colour was a shade darker than Luna's, and there was a sash which they could tie at the waist. Amy's was a subtle blue while Raye's was a bright red.

Serena smiled nervously at them and smoothed down her dress. She swallowed and ran her tongue over her dry lips, careful not to smudge her lipstick. "Let's go."

She walked out the door and stopped dead. Amy and Raye waited and watched her reaction. In front of them stood a vehicle. A limo, a white limo to be more precise. Serena opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out.

Amy smiled a little whimsically. "Darien Refatalki sent it here. Isn't it so romantic? He must be very in love with you."

Serena resisted from saying that Darien was the direct opposite of very much in love with her. He said that he didn't hate her. But if that was true, why was he inflicting this torture on her?

Raye didn't notice the expression on her friend's face and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. And a white limo. Lucky devil, you."

Both the bridesmaids linked their arms with Serena's and they made their way over to the limo, with Luna and Artemis behind them.

Serena closed her eyes as the limo door closed behind her. She heard squeals emerge from Raye and Amy but didn't open her eyes. They thought that this was a perfect love match, that Serena and Darien had fallen head over heels in love and had hastened with the wedding arrangements. How wrong they were.

"Serena, open your eyes for god's sake and look." Raye's voice pierced through the fog of her thoughts and she did as her friend asked her to do.

White, that was her first thought. In front of the girls, was a sea of white. White roses. Evidently, Darien was taking his appointed role seriously, but it would have been so much better if all this was real. If Darien was the man she loved and if she wanted this marriage with all her heart. But he wasn't, and she didn't. That was the problem.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Serena narrowed her eyes as she saw the intent look appear on Darien's dark handsome face. Oh no. No no no. He wasn't going to kiss her, but looking at the smiling faces all around her, she knew that they had to kiss.

She smiled acidly. Though not necessarily on the lips. So she turned her face to one side and offered him her cheek, but did the man do as she wanted? No.

He reached out and gripped her shoulders instead. Pulling her slowly towards him, he looked at the anger in her eyes and had the audacity to smile. Serena opened her mouth to hiss a warning at him but she was too late. With a final glint in his eyes, her new husband propelled her into his arms and placed his mouth on hers.

Serena froze as his cool lips moved over her mouth. She started to pull back after a second or two, but Darien put his arms more firmly around hers, and angling his head further towards one side, he deepened the kiss. Serena's fingers plucked helplessly at his silk white shirt and she tried to remain still and not respond to Darien, but it was so hard. A slow warmth was spreading through Serena's body and a traitorous coil was unfurling at the pit of her stomach.

Serena trembled at the sensations she was feeling and sighed lightly as she felt the way Darien gathered her up closer to him to be able to intensify the kiss. She closed her eyes tightly and gave herself up to the feeling even though she knew it was wrong. This shouldn't be happening, but she couldn't stop herself, even though she knew that people were watching her and Darien... from far way, she heard clapping and whistling coming from the crowd of people in the church. As more colour infused her already heated cheeks, Serena pushed once again at Darien's chest and this time he let her go.

Serena took deep breaths of air to fill her depraved lungs and to clear her muddled head. She couldn't look at Darien- or at anyone else for that matter- and so she kept her head down. Smiling smugly at her embarrassed but indignant face, Darien slipped an arm across her waist and pushed her forward to walk out of the church with him. The kiss didn't seem to have done anything to him at all, but then, why should it? He was used to passion and was obviously satisfied that way with Lita. 

That thought made her lift her head with cool dignity and look at the guests with a smile on her face. She sighed inside when she saw the happy looks on the faces of some of her relatives, her mother's older sister being a prime example. Aunt Bridget had worried when Serena and Mina had been orphaned, and so, she would be satisfied that Serena had a husband. As for Mina... well, she wouldn't need to worry about her anyway.

Blinking her eyes as the slight sting of tears blurred her vision, Serena pushed aside the wish that Mina could see this day. She would have been so happy that Serena was getting married. Of course she wouldn't have had that feeling for long when she found out that it wasn't a love marriage but still...

Serena shook her head slightly and glanced up. Her eyes met Lita Larina's for a moment and she nearly faltered in her step when she saw the obvious pain in the woman's eyes. She looked at her a little sympathetically. It must be hard for a woman to watch the man she most probably loved get married to another woman. Lita looked away and Serena pursed her mouth a little. Poor Lita.

Serena wondered if there was going to be a wedding reception seeing that Darien was trying to make this day into an as-real-as-possible-wedding-day. There had even been a photographer when she had reached the church and there he was again, standing at the bottom of the steps, waiting to take a picture of the happy bride and groom coming out of the church. Darien pressed his fingers harder into her arm and brought his mouth nearer to her ear.

"Smile."

His warm breath wafted across the side of her head and Serena stiffened, wondering hysterically if he was going to nuzzle her neck. Here. In front of everyone. She couldn't take it. The pressure was smothering her and she just couldn't take it. So she did as Darien asked and hoped that he'd leave her alone now.

When the bright flashes of light faded, Raye and Amy appeared in front of her. Both of them stretched out their arms and enveloped her into a warm hug.

"Enjoy your honeymoon Serena and have fun." Amy leaned back and smiled at Serena.

She nodded and smiled back weakly. Raye stepped back and winked saucily at Serena.

She brought her face closer to Serena's. "Yeah. Have lots and lots of fun. And wherever you're going, there are bound to be a lot of guys. Which means, we expect details when we get back. Okay? You might be a married woman but we're not and you're not blind, so, works both ways."

Serena gave her friends another smile. "Sure. Thanks."

The two girls retreated when Darien came back from talking to whomever he'd been talking to.

He took her hand and placed her arm on his. "Come on. Say goodbye to Luna and Diana."

Serena jerked back to stare at his face. "Diana? She's not coming with us?"

Darien gave her a faintly disbelieving look. "Babies don't come on honeymoons."

Serena opened her mouth to protest but he swept her along to where Luna stood, who brought an arm around Serena and laid her cheek against hers. "Have a great time okay? And don't worry about Diana. I promise I'll take good good good care of her."

Serena bit her lip and stared at Luna with a panicked expression on her face. "Luna. I don't think-"

"Nonsense. Everything will be fine. And now you better go see Seiya. He's been waiting to say goodbye." While Luna said that to Serena, she stared behind her back to where Darien stood. And whatever she saw was what she wanted to see because a huge smile broke out over her face.

Serena didn't see that because she was busy running a gentle hand over Diana's cheek and bending down to kiss the tiny forehead. She'd really miss her. Who knew how long the honeymoon was going to be for? She certainly didn't. She didn't even know where it was going to be.

After letting Artemis hug her, Serena turned towards where Seiya stood in his dark grey suit. Walking hesitantly over to him, she stopped a few feet away from him, and smiling uncertainly, she reached out a hand towards him. Seiya didn't do anything. When all hope finished that Seiya was going to response, Serena started to drop her hand but in a sudden move, Seiya reached out, gripped it and pulled her to him to enclose her in the strong circle of his arms. He placed his chin on her head and tightened his grip around her.

"Seiya-"

He pulled back and held her away from him. Studying her face, he slowly bent down until his lips were inched away from hers. "How about a goodbye kiss?"

Serena laughed uneasily. "Seiya-"

Without waiting for her to finish, he bent his head further down and captured her lips with his. Serena froze and stood motionless under him waiting for him to finish. Suddenly, something took hold of Serena's arm and ripped her out of Seiya's embrace. Gasping a little, Serena turned her head to encounter Darien's furious gaze.

The dark eyes were practically spitting fire as he scowled at Seiya. "I think that'll be enough. And now if you don't mind, Serena and I have to go and commence on our honeymoon."

With a sharp tight smile at Seiya, Darien spun on his heel and headed for the limo dragging Serena with him. Throwing a last helpless smile at Seiya, she turned and followed Darien. He was her husband. They were going somewhere for their honeymoon. What else could she do?

----------

Sahara Lilium 


	8. The honeymoon

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

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SACRIFICE

Chapter 8

Sahara Lilium

----------

Serena flinched as Darien slammed the limo door behind him. But before she could say anything, her gaze shifted and her breath lodged in her throat as she took in the scene in front of her. A sea of red. This time, they were red roses. Serena felt a pang in her chest as she took in the beauty of the flowers. It was so romantic, but what was the point of all this romance when it was false?

She was aware of the fact that Darien was looking at her, and when she turned to meet his regard, she saw a sardonic look on his face.

"Not what you were expecting?"

Serena shrugged. "No. Not really. But the flowers... the roses... they're beautiful."

"They are." Darien nodded his head in agreement and continued to stare at her.

When he didn't say anything else, Serena linked her hands nervously.

"Why did you do it?" She asked him. "They weren't needed."

"Meaning you don't like them?" He said.

"Meaning they weren't needed. You know this marriage isn't real. This gesture just seems, I don't know, hypocritical I guess."

Darien's jaw tightened and that familiar look of anger appeared in his eyes, a look that Serena was starting to see more and more. She waited for him to erupt, but he didn't say anything and continued to look at her with intent, unblinking eyes. For some reason, Serena's mind went back to the kiss. Not Seiya's kiss but Darien's. She couldn't get it out of her head. The passion she had experienced had surprised her, and she didn't know how to deal with it, given that it was coming from Darien. The best she could do was to ignore it.

But how could she when the object of her... very inconvenient desire was always there in front of her and to whom she was now bound to for life?

"Remember this Serena. There is nothing false about our marriage. It's as real as any marriage could be. So now I don't ever want to hear you refer it to in such terms. Do you understand me?"

Serena frowned at him. Had he forgotten that this was a marriage of convenience? "To be perfectly honest with you Darien, I don't care what you want. This marriage will always be a sham to me."

Darien watched Serena with expressionless eyes and in a sudden quick movement, he reached out and gripped Serena's hands in his own. "I'm your husband and what I want should be your top priority. Now do you understand me?"

Serena remained silent, but when Darien tightened his grip on her hand, a pained cry escaped her.

"Well? Do you understand me?" Darien enquired politely.

Serena licked her lips and stared at Darien's face. His calm expression belied the rough tones of his voice, and it frightened her a little.

"Yes. I understand." When she saw the triumph flash on his face, she continued. "I understand what you want, but let me tell you something. There's no way I'll be the kind of wife you want me to be, okay? I'll do what I want and you can forget any ideas you have about keeping me in the shadows, ordering me do whatever you wish, wanting me to surrender to your every command and bow down to your every whim."

The look of triumph faded from Darien's face and left it blank of all expression except for the small humourless smile which curved his mouth. "I'm glad to hear that. I don't want a doormat for a wife. You'll act like any everyday modern woman who's married. You'll be a faithful wife to me, a mother to my children and a hostess for my house. Who said anything about you staying in the shadows?"

Serena couldn't believe what she was hearing. The rubbish he spouted...! How could a man reputed to be as intelligent as him, say these kind of things?

"You... are... crazy." She said, emphasising each word. "I have absolutely no idea how you come up with things like this." She shook her head. "My sincere advice to you Darien is that get these kind of thoughts out of your head."

"My dear wife." He smiled a humourless smile. "What you have to get into your head is that this marriage is going to be a proper one. You'll behave according to your station in my life. Now, no more talking. We've arrived at my apartment where we'll change, collect our luggage, and head for the airport to commence on our honeymoon."

Serena stared out of the small square box that was the airplane window. Darien's private airplane window. She didn't even know where they were going for their honeymoon, and she didn't want to ask. Darien had already sorted everything else out in her life, let him sort this out also.

When they'd gotten to the apartment, Serena had seen the pile of luggage that they were to take with them. She hadn't recognised any of it. Which meant that Darien had ordered everything. There was one consolation though. The trousseau that she had ordered, at least that had been among the rest of the suitcases. She wouldn't have to wear underwear and nightgowns which somebody else had chosen.

Even the clothes that she was now wearing had been laid out for her. She'd felt so humiliated. What must the staff think? That Darien Refatalki's new bride didn't know how to dress? If Darien hadn't been rushing her, she'd have worn something else, something more unsuitable than the loose tan pants and the slightly lighter top that went with it. Something like, oh, evening wear? She'd have embarrassed Darien and see how he'd liked it.

Wrenching her mind to the present, Serena sighed wearily and leaned back in her seat. She closed her eyes and rubbed a tired hand across her forehead. God, she was so tired. Not physically but mentally. She couldn't take in all that had happened to her today. She was married to a man that she didn't want to be married to, a man who demanded a real marriage from her. She didn't think she could go on like this.

Serena took a deep breath to try to calm herself and opened her eyes. She felt uncomfortable as she realised that Darien's eyes were intent on her and that they were missing no expression that crossed her face. They continued to stare at each other, until she stiffened as she saw him lean forward, closer towards her from where he was sitting opposite her.

"Don't worry. We're nearly there."

There. Where?

"Where's there?" She finally asked him.

Darien leaned back in his seat with a faint curve to his lips. "Ah. I was wondering when you'd ask that question. It's taken you quite a long time to accept things, hasn't it?"

"Just answer the question. Where are we going?" Serena scowled at him.

"You mean where is our honeymoon going to take place?"

Serena glared mulishly at him. "No. I mean where are we going?"

Darien smiled charmingly back at her. "I'm sorry. I don't know the answer to that. All I know is the name of the place where our honeymoon will take place. But since you don't want an answer to that..." Darien shrugged as if he was at a loss. He was never at a loss, the little- "I'm sorry but I can't help you."

Serena inhaled loudly, through gritted teeth. "Fine. I'll just ask an airhostess then. She's bound to know."

Darien gave her a smug smile and gestured behind him towards the couple of seats where the flight attendants sat. "Be my guest. But may I tell you how foolish you'll look if you did do that? To the rest of the world, them included, we're in love and it will appear a little weird... more than a little weird if you don't know our destination."

Serena sat there seething in frustration. He was right damn him. She'd be a laughing stock for the rest of the journey. "Fine Darien have it your own way... where will our honeymoon take place?"

He smiled over at her with sudden warmth and Serena's breath lodged in her throat. He was so handsome... "Greece. My homeland."

He wasn't handsome. Not inside anyway, not where it really counted.

"Greece?"

He nodded. "Yes. You'll be introduced to my country, my people, my culture."

"Well maybe I don't want to know your country, your people or your culture. They have nothing to do with me."

"Wrong. They have everything to do with you. Now be a good girl and fasten your seatbelt. We're about to land." Darien smiled lightly over at her.

Serena refused to do what he told her to do. A second later, the voice of the captain drifted across the small plane telling them that they were circling the airport and that seatbelts had to be fastened. She might as well have one last jab at him.

"I'm not a good girl, so don't call me that."

Darien's eyes glinted and she braced herself for his outburst, but relaxed wearily when she saw that she'd said something that had definitely not angered him. "I'm glad to hear you say that. You not being a good girl will make our honeymoon so much more fun."

Serena stared at him, shocked. What was he talking about? Her not being a good girl made her into a... bad…

Serena gave a silent despairing groan as the full impact of the words sank in. God, when was she going to learn to think before she spoke, especially in front Darien?

Serena watched as Darien tipped the porter, who lifted his hat in thanks. He said something to Darien in Greek and both men laughed while looking over at Serena. Ignoring them both, she turned her back on them, and took in her surroundings.

She'd been surprised when, instead of a hotel, they'd been dropped off at a house. It should have been described as the mansion of mansions, it was so large. The room they were in was beautifully furnished but none of the elegance truly registered on Serena because her eyes were taking in every detail of the large king-sized bed. She swallowed nervously as she pictured two heads on the snowy white pillows. Two people in the bed. No. It wasn't going to happen.

Hearing the door close behind the porter, she turned back towards Darien and gave a false bright smile. "Where's my bedroom?"

Darien studied her with a quiet motionless stance.  
"This is your bedroom." He stated simply.

Serena smiled again while inside her, her heart gave a panicked thump. "Really? How lucky for me. Where's your bedroom?"

"This is my bedroom."

Her smile slipped. She turned her back towards him and gazed at the bed again.

"I don't think..." She began.

"Too bad."

Darien didn't wait for her to reply. He strode forward and, gripping Serena's shoulders in his hands, turned her around. A surprised gasp burst out of her mouth but before she could say anything, her new husband covered it with his own. And as lips met lips, all hell broke loose.

Serena trembled as Darien brought his arms down behind her knees and swept her into his embrace, his mouth still infused with hers. In a few long strides, he brought her down gently on the bed and knelt beside her. Resisting Darien didn't even enter her mind. He first removed her shoes and then his. Lifting himself to lie half over her and bringing a hand up to her shirt, he proceeded to undo the buttons one by one.

Serena gasped a little at the needle-like sensations sweeping through the lower part of her body. She moved her head to the side slightly and then winced as a shaft of bright sunlight glinted down into her eyes. The shock made her momentarily regain her senses and she took stock of where she was and what she was doing. She gasped again, this time in horror. What the hell was she doing? She brought a hand up to put it over Darien's lips where they were wreaking havoc at her throat.

"No..."

Her whisper was weak yet filled with dawning dismay at was what happening. She struggled to push Darien away but he didn't budge an inch.

"No!"

This time her voice was stronger and Darien lifted his head at the panicked pitch in her voice. He frowned at her distraught face, his cheeks filled with colour from his passion.

"What's wrong?"

Something quivered in her stomach at the low rough timber of his voice and she closed her eyes, trying to ignore the urge she had to plaster her body to the source of her arousal.

"We... I'm not doing this. It's wrong!"

Darien frowned again, this time in angered disbelief. "There's nothing wrong with what we're doing. You're my wife. Your body belongs to me as mine belongs to you."

That did it. That kind of thinking didn't belong in the modern world. Darien should have been born hundreds of years ago. He'd have fit right in with the chauvinistic, sexist and prehistoric men of that time.

"Oh please!"

Serena threw him a disparaging glance as she struggled to sit upright. Darien didn't let her and he swept her arms out from under her making her loose her balance and fall back onto the bed.

"Yes! 'Oh please' don't make me explain things to you again. You're my wife, you're in my bed, and you will give yourself to me. Understand?"

Without giving her a chance to reply, he buried his face in her hair. Serena closed her eyes and moaned as she felt her control slip away from her once again.

----------

Sahara Lilium


	9. The choice

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

----------

SACRIFICE

Chapter 9

Sahara Lilium

----------

Serena's eyes snapped open as cool air stroked over her heated flesh. She turned her head and watched as Darien lifted himself off her and strode over to a small cabinet, opening it and pouring himself a shot of whisky. Using her elbows to lift her head from the pillow, she gaped at him.

"What...?" Her voice trailed off as she saw the heavy burning look Darien aimed towards her.

"You will come to me- tonight, but only because you want to."

Serena stared at him as furious thoughts tumbled through her head. He thought that she would go to him of her own free will did he? He obviously thought he was irresistible since he'd even put a time limit on her willpower.

Serena scowled down at the bedspread as she used a hand to push her tumbled hair back off her face. Face burning with mortification, she got off the bed. Lowering her face so Darien couldn't see the embarrassment he had caused her, she re-buttoned her top with unsteady hands.

"You're a jerk."

Darien calmly took a sip of his drink. "I'm surprised to hear you say that. I would have thought that you'd be pleased that I stopped when you told me to. Yet you're behaving as if you're... disappointed."

Serena lifted her head sharply as more embarrassed heat flooded her cheeks. She opened her mouth to hiss a furious retort at him but before a word escaped her, her brain warned her that if she didn't want to make a major fool of herself, even more than she already had, then it would be best if she kept her dignity by staying silent.

"No answer?" Serena ignored him and Darien chuckled lightly as his eyes followed her progress to the bathroom. "We'll be going out in a moment after you've freshened up. I suggest you change into something thin as it's quite warm outside."

Serena stopped mid-step. She didn't turn around. Her mind despaired at what Darien was doing. He was absolutely determined to turn this into as real a honeymoon as possible.

Darien walked over to Serena with a small suitcase in one hand, his drink still cradled in the other. "Anything you need will be in here."

Serena lifted her chin. "Anything I need is not here. These are not my clothes. I won't wear them."

Darien didn't say anything, but put the suitcase down on the floor. "As you wish then. Let's go."

Putting his glass down on the table beside him, Darien gripped Serena's elbow and pulled her along behind him.

Serena stared at him in surprise. "I'm not going out like this. These clothes are too warm-"

Darien stopped so suddenly that she nearly bumped into him. Spinning around, he glared at her. "Look, your 'clothes', the ones you want to wear, are no longer here. Unless you want to take a flight back to bring your own clothes, you'll have to make do with these. Besides, these clothes please me and the ones you wore didn't."

Serena opened her mouth and closed it again with saying a word. She was so angry that- that... "Like I care."

Darien smiled. "Oh you care. Now, if you want to change, wear the clothes I bought for you. If not, then let's go."

Serena stared angrily into Darien's face. She bit her lip as she eyed the blank expression on her husband's face. The seconds ticked by and still Darien stared back at her, impassively. Then she sighed and turned back towards the suitcase and bathroom. If she had seen one flicker of gloat, one flash of smugness on Darien's face, she wouldn't have been going to the bathroom to get changed. No, she'd have boiled and roasted outside in the clothes she was wearing but she wouldn't have changed.

God what had she gotton herself into?

"I'm pleased to meet you."

Serena smiled at the elderly man, Styros, whom Darien had introduced her to in the restaurant. She wouldn't have thought Darien would ever bring her to a place like this. She'd have thought that they'd have gone to a really posh place where the maitre'd wore a uniform and didn't grin at people with more than half his teeth missing. Instead, Darien had brought her to this sweet little place, where smells of delicious food wafted around freely, not blocked by the harsh metal doors of the kitchen.

Styros grinned a toothless smile back at her and spat out a round of Greek. She kept her smile pinned on her face, even though she just didn't understand what he was saying. She felt like some dummy who was way out of her league, but Darien wasn't making her feel like that. She was doing it herself.

In fact, Darien had been really... supportive all evening. He'd introduced her to all the people they'd met, and there had been many. They'd walked out of the huge mansion and on average, after every three feet, some-one had hailed Darien. He'd also really tried to make her feel involved. She just didn't understand him at all.

With what she knew about Darien, he should have been busy humiliating her as much as he could by making her feel left out. But he wasn't doing that at all, even though he hadn't turned completely angelus either. He was out on a mission, a mission to show her what she'd be missing if she didn't indulge in…in 'carnal' actions with him. Every so often, his hand would brush against the side of her breast and his arm remained around her waist all the time, his fingers pressing into the erogenous zone at Serena's waist. She was definitely hard-pressed to control her reaction to his proximity.

"He's saying that I'm a lucky man to have a beautiful wife like you."

Greeks. Charming, full of flattery Greeks. Too bad her new husband wasn't like that. Serena's lips twisted derisively as she nodded politely. She didn't glance at Darien and so jumped slightly when he leaned closer down towards her and tipped up her chin with his fingers.

"He's also saying that I'm being a fool to waste my time like this, out here, when I could be doing so many more other... productive things with my new wife."

Serena froze. She hadn't expected Styros to say anything along the lines of sex. Old people just didn't mention that sort of stuff. But obviously, Greek males were different. It was in their genes. A blush highlighted her cheeks making Styros beam again. "Oh."

Darien teasingly smiled at her and Serena hid a shiver as his hand trailed over the back of her bare arm. "Do you want me to say anything back to him?"

She thought about it. Darien was obviously making an effort and it seemed churlish if she didn't do the same.

So she nodded again. "Yes. Tell him I'm disappointed about that as well but then, I wouldn't have been able to come out here and meet him."

Darien smiled approvingly down at her and repeated what she'd said in Greek. The toothless man guffawed and slapped his thigh, and Serena could feel herself breaking out in a smile as well as she saw his mirth. He was so charming, however did Darien make an acquaintance like that?

Cupping her elbow in his hand with one hand and slipping his other arm around her waist again, Darien led her over to an empty table Styros gestured to, and pulling out a chair, made her sit down. Slipping into the seat opposite her, he said something to Styros who grinned once again at Darien, nodded at Serena and turning on his heel, disappeared through a door.

Darien smiled at her. "Enjoying yourself?"

Serena shrugged casually under Darien's watchful gaze.

He nodded a little and looked around. "I admit you haven't seen much because of all the introductions, but-" This time he shrugged and smiled fondly. "- these people have known me since I was born. I can't spend much time here and so when I do come, all of them are eager to meet me. More so today as it has become known that I've just taken myself a beautiful wife."

Serena shot him a dirty look. She wanted to erase the thought of him as a vulnerable baby who had many people wrapped around his finger because they cared for him. It seemed too... human.

"You haven't taken me-"

Darien winked at her. "- come tonight, we'll soon be able to rectify that."

Serena glared at him. It was these silly remarks of his which were continuously causing improper thoughts to play out in her mind. Since they'd stepped out of the house around an hour ago, he'd been saying these suggestive comments to her until she couldn't help but think about them, daydream about them. But that was all she was going to do. Her thoughts were not going to turn into reality. This marriage would never be consummated. She wasn't here to do things like that. Even if she had had a pretty real wedding and was right now on her pretty real honeymoon. So what? She didn't consider them to be real.

Thus giving herself some mental support, Serena lifted her head and with a stubborn expression on her face, gazed into Darien's slightly mocking one.

He looked into her mutinous eyes and sighed. "You really are something, you know that? Once again, it seems as if all my hard work has been undone, but no matter. There are still a few hours left until night, when we embark on the once in a life-time wedding night."

Serena scowled at him. "Wedding nights aren't occurrences which happen once in a lifetime. If you get married again-"

"Something which won't be happening to either of us." Darien impatiently interrupted. "We're in this for life Serena. Think of Diana, and keep thinking of her while you sit there with that look on your face, thinking that you can get away with doing all the things you want to do. No. You will compromise, and that's all I have to say on this subject." Before Serena could open her furious mouth, he lifted an impervious hand. "Our food is here. Take care not spoil it with any acid which drips so readily from your tongue. This day is too special for that."

Serena fumed silently as Styros placed a covered dish in front of her and Darien. She noticed that Darien's plate wasn't covered and looked at her silver domed cover questioningly. Styros didn't notice her puzzlement as he placed two glasses in front of them both, and poured them bottled water. Then giving them an impersonal smile, vanished from their table.

Serena stared after him, bemused. He'd tried to act in a classy manner, like any waiter in a posh restaurant, but it didn't suit him. He was one of those homey men that, no matter where they were, should always act comfortable and never ever be layered over with sophistication and elegance.

"He wants to please you. He thinks that you'll judge him too harshly if he doesn't impress you a little with his catering... etiquettes." Darien's voice brought her head around and she saw that far from concentrating on his food, he was watching the expression on her face.

"I wouldn't have done that. I-" Serena started defensively.

"I know you wouldn't have done that. But Styros doesn't. He likes you and wants to make a good impression."

Her face softened. "He already has."

He smiled over at her in approval. "Yes. He has that effect on everyone he meets, and you'll show that to him with the way you appreciate his food. Now quickly eat. There are some more people I'd like to introduce you to."

Serena sighed, lifted the cover and starting eating. She had a feeling that she would meet these other people all too quickly and would have to make the decision that could change her life. The life she had already started leading from this morning. The life that, even though she didn't want it to, was fast becoming a curiosity for her.

Something, she admitted to herself in her troubled mind, she hadn't anticipated when she had agreed to marry Darien.

----------

Sahara Lilium 


	10. The decision

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

----------

SACRIFICE

Chapter 10

Sahara Lilium

----------

"Well?"

Serena turned around from where she stood by the window, contemplating the scene outside, to see Darien striding towards her. She gave a sigh of relief as she noticed the robe belted tightly over his flat stomach. She didn't know what she had expected, maybe him naked trying to swamp her with his dynamic sex appeal? No matter how silly it sounded, it would have worked. She was attracted to this man who was her husband and there was no use trying to work out the scientific reasoning to it. There was also no stopping this attraction and that's why she was about to do what she was about to do.

Darien stopped in front of her, staying a few feet away from her, not touching her, not taking his eyes off her face. Serena took a deep breath and lifted her chin. There was nothing to be embarrassed about.

"I want to- I want..." Darien lifted a brow as Serena's voice faltered her. Licking her dry lips nervously, she tried again. If he wanted to hear her say it, then she'd give it to him all. "I want us to have sex. I want to consummate this marriage. I want a marital bed to lie on."

Darien nodded, his dark eyes trained unwaveringly on hers. "What you are trying to say is this. You want us to make love."

Serena hesitated then nodded. Darien took a step forward. "You want us to make this marriage real."

She nodded again and Darien took another step towards her. "You want us to have a relationship."

She stared at him. Then nodded and he took that last step forward, the step that brought him up sharply against her.

He bent his head and his breath wafted against her forehead. "So do I."

Gently lifting her chin with his left hand, he brought his right hand up to her cheek and cupped it, letting his thumb caress the full line of her bottom lip. Serena sighed as sensation gripped her lower stomach and she closed her eyes.

This was it.

Serena smiled as she checked herself in the mirror. Soon. Very soon she would see Luna again. Her friends. And little Diana.

It had been three weeks since her wedding day, and she felt so changed, so different. She didn't know what it was. Maybe the Greek atmosphere or the completely worry free days. Or maybe it was Darien. Darien Refatalki. Her husband. Her lover. The man who, night after night, day after day, took her body and drowned in it, making sure to take her along with him.

But now it was back to reality. The honeymoon was over. Real life was beginning. She had to face up to that. And forget everything that had happened here. Forget what she had shared with Darien. Forget how they had made love whenever one look, one touch had heated their bloods and raised their temperatures. Forget it all.

Serena made a rueful face at herself in the mirror. She had as much chance of forgetting it all as the chance that- that... well, let's just say that she would never forget these three week. Never.

She jumped when two arms slid across her stomach from behind her. A little shock of familiar electric current went through her and she immediately knew who it was. Lifting her gaze up, her eyes encountered his dark ones in the mirror and she watched a smile stretch the hard line of his lips.

"Looking forward to going back?"

He sure looked happy. In fact, he was looking so pleased, so smug with himself that Serena just got this feeling that something was up.

"Ummm. And you?"

"Oh yes. Getting back to real life. Though I suppose I will miss the three weeks we've spent here."

Pausing and looking at her expectantly, Darien waited for Serena to answer back. She didn't. Her mind was all in a confused jumble. Darien wanted to go back. He wanted to leave everything behind and go back to his family and his friends. Of course they had to leave sometime, but he didn't have to appear so eager about it. Though she thought that she knew why he wanted to get back. Lita Larina.

Her heart gave a curious jump at the thought of the other woman's name. Darien said that he would miss what had happened these three weeks, but he wasn't too upset because he knew that he wouldn't be missing anything. These three weeks had probably meant nothing to him. He was used to these kind of things. Oh god what had she done?

"Serena?" Darien's voice held a hint of concern as he looked at the expression on Serena's face. Loosening his arms from around her, he grabbed Serena as she tried to get away from him and turned her around to face him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Now let me go please because I have to make sure that everything is packed."

She tried to get away from him again but he held her tighter. A watchful look had entered his eyes. "You should have let the maid do that. That's what she's here for."

"Well, since you decreed it to be so, these are my clothes aren't they?"

He hesitated before replying slowly. "Yes. Of course-"

"Well, I don't want a stranger handling them okay? You might be used to it but I'm not."

Darien stared at her silently. He lifted a hand and brushed it against her cheek. "What's wrong Serena?"

She remained silent- she couldn't, she just couldn't bear it if he found out the real reason behind her mood change. Hell, she couldn't bear it herself so she was strictly keeping her mind off the reason. Instead of meeting Darien's eyes she stared off into the distance behind Darien's shoulder.

"Are you worried about what's going to happen once we get back? Where we'll stay, what we'll do?"

Cupping Serena's chin in his hand, he lifted it up and kept it there until her eyes met his. She stared at him while he looked back at her. But this time, it wasn't a stranger's hated face she saw. It was a face whose every contour she was familiar with, whose every texture she was well aware of. Not a face she loved but definitely one she lusted after. It would never be a loved face. She wouldn't let it be.

"I'm not worried okay Darien? I have nothing to be worried about. The answer to these questions is simple. I'm amazed you haven't reached the conclusion yet."

"Really?"

The tone of his voice changed back to the arrogant one he hadn't used during the whole of the three weeks after their wedding night. It made Serena not want to continue this conversation further but she was tired of living in cloud cuckoo land. She was tired of ignoring the truth behind their honeymoon. That Darien was just consummating the marriage the first night and during all the other nights and days to follow, he was taking advantage of a willing body. And she had been willing. More than she had ever been in her entire life.

"Yes. We'll be living in the same house because of Diana but everything else will just continue as if we had never gotton married."

"Really?" This time his voice wasn't just his usual arrogant one but steely as well. "How do you plan to get on with your normal life when you will not be living in your normal city, not visiting your normal workplace, not being with your normal friends?" "Excuse me?" Serena frowned at Darien and tilted her head to one side.

"You heard me the first time. We'll be moving here, to Greece in one week during which you will sort out anything you need to."

"Moving here? Here?"

Darien impatiently shook his head. "No. Not here to Kórinthos. But to Athens, where my main offices are and where I usually spend most of my time."

Serena opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Darien regarded her reaction with ironic amusement. "Really Serena. I had thought you'd be happy at this news. After all, you were the one who told me last night that you loved Greece."

Serena flashed him an angry look even as her cheeks filled with embarrassed colour. She remembered saying that but she hadn't been in her right frame of mind at the time. They'd just come from a small party that had been given in their honour and every-one had been so nice to Serena and she'd had such a good time, that she'd been in a really good mood. So as soon as they had got back, well, a look had passed between them and that had been enough to set the fire ignite again. "Greece isn't the problem. What you're saying is. I don't want to leave every-" Serena was interrupted by the ring of the phone. She inhaled air and let it out in a huff. Glaring angrily at Darien's back as he strode over to the telephone set, she then turned to glower furiously out of the window.

Tuning Darien's voice out of her head, she struggled not to let tears escape her eyes. She didn't know what they were for. Whether they were in anger, or in weariness about the direction her life was heading towards. Why did it all happen to her? Of course there were millions of other people in the world who were more unlucky than her but that wasn't the point. The point was the fact that she had to have been born on a day which was just unlucky. After all, when she was four, her Nan died. Then at seven, her grandfather died. When she was ten, her grandmother died and a year later, her other grandfather died. At thirteen, her father left the world and when she was but fifteen, she was made an orphan when her mother gave way to cancer. And at eighteen, Alan... god, she didn't want to think about that. And Mina and Andrew, she didn't want to cast her mind on that topic either. She just couldn't.

Turning back towards Darien as she felt the emotional burden slip more heavily onto her shoulders, she sighed and ran her hand over her weary head. Staring at the man who, it seemed, had interrupted her unlucky life to cause even more bad luck, she noted the strain holding him tight; he was all tensed up and his hands were clenched. 

"Where is she now?" His voice came out in a harsh bark and Serena stared at him, puzzled.

Wild thoughts ran through her head. Who was he talking about? Was it Lita? What had Lita done to make Darien sound so angry? Serena frowned irritably at these thoughts. God, for some reason she really didn't like Lita.

"Hospital? How long for?"

Her mind snapped back into reality and she looked questioningly at Darien's face as she heard the worry in his voice.

"Okay. We're on our way back."

Slamming the phone down, he stared at it for a while before turning and striding over towards where one of their suitcases was. Serena stayed standing.

"Get a move on Serena."

She was just opening her mouth to ask why, when he left a comment hanging in the air, a comment which made her heart stop and her blood run cold.

"Diana is in hospital and it seems that she's in critical condition."

----------

Today, Kórinthos is called Corinth. I thought it would be more... sexy if a Greek like Darien still used the old names concerning his country.

Sahara Lilium 


	11. The news

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

----------

SACRIFICE

Chapter 11

Sahara Lilium

----------

Serena's heart beat a wild, panicked dance against her rib-cage. She was feeling light-headed and her skin was clammy to the touch yet at the same time, cold. She wasn't aware of anything around her except the passing of time. Time that was going too fast. She could feel the tense arm muscles of Darien against her but it was as if she was somewhere else with only half a sense in her body which kept it functioning.

Diana. Diana. Diana. Mina. Andrew. Now Diana.

The mantra kept on going round and round in her head and she tried to swallow but her throat was drier than a desert, and swallowing ended up hurting. Her eyes also refused to let out a drop of liquid from them and they started unseeingly at the back of the seat in front of her. The steady hum of the plane vibrated against her feet, but she had no feeling of it. She was in her own little world. A world full of guilt, remorse and mind-numbing pain.

It was her fault. All her fault. If she hadn't been the spineless fool she was who had no backbone, she wouldn't have given in to Darien, would have stayed in touch with Luna and maybe, just maybe, might have been able to do something for Diana. She still didn't know what was wrong with her niece. Darien hadn't told her and she hadn't had the courage to ask. All he'd said was that she was in critical condition. That could mean anything couldn't it? There were tons of illnesses a baby could suffer from, some more serious than others.

She closed her eyes and started to pray, hoping against hope that her little niece would pull through, that everything would be alright.

Darien sat beside Serena and stared at nothing. His niece- it still felt weird to say that- was dying. She was practically dead. The doctors had said that there was no hope for her. But what was the point of telling all that to his wife? She'd find out anyway. Besides, she'd just have been in a worse condition than she was in now. And that wasn't what she needed right now. No more traumas in her life. Oh he knew about her past. Every little detail. He wouldn't have married her if he didn't know everything about her. Just look where that had left Lita. But Lita was lucky in the sense that he was there for her and so she didn't really have to worry about anything anymore.

The same couldn't be said for Serena, though. He'd have liked to say that he had no feelings for her, that she meant nothing to him. But after spending three weeks with her, he wanted her more passionately, more fervently, more ardently than he had ever wanted her before they had gotton married.

Which brought him back to Diana. After all, she was the reason Serena had agreed to marry him. Although, he would have found a way to marry her anyway, Diana had just made things easier for him. And now the little baby was dying. The thread that held the two of them together was breaking. The thread that he couldn't afford to lose. 

"I'm sorry. There was nothing we could have done. It was all too sudden."

Serena stared at the doctor, her mind not registering what she had just been told.

"I'm sorry again for your loss. We're not really sure what happened but as soon as we receive the coroner's report, you and your husband will be notified. Until then, we need one of you to fill out some forms."

Serena felt curiously calm, her mind blanking out the doctor's words. She heard them, understood them but there was no reaction. Nothing. A void.

She turned her head slowly to look behind her as a supporting arm slipped across her back. Darien. His face was the usual mask of cool arrogance and he also, was displaying no kind of emotion.

She wondered what the doctor must be thinking of them. A couple that had just been told that they'd lost their baby and they were just standing there so coldly. Serena had a wild urge to laugh out loud at herself and Darien. No reaction. God, no reaction.

"Serena. Serena? Serena!" Luna came over to where Serena was sitting and gently pulled at a silvery blonde strand.

"What Luna?" Serena frowned and then giving a big sigh, turned around to face her. "What do you want?"

"I want you to come back from wherever you were and-"

Serena inhaled deeply and then turning around, started staring at herself in the mirror again. This face. This person. So unlucky. "I was on the Moon, Luna."

"Really? Only the Moon? I'd have thought that you were further away than that."

Serena didn't bother to reply this time and let out a huge sigh again. Luna bit her lip in worry and shook her head as she viewed the state Serena was in.

Poor girl. No-one could blame her for being in the condition she was in. Loosing all her family, one by one, from her Nan to her niece, until there was no-one left. She was entitled to feel like that especially since she'd just come back from Diana's funeral. Luna only wished that she could be a 100 sure that Serena was going to be alright. Okay so she had a husband. However, her husband's reason for marrying her was gone now. So would Darien soon be gone as well...?

But the positive thing was that he hadn't left her yet had he? In fact, Luna had a curious feeling that he would never leave her. There was just something in his eyes when he looked at her. Not love. She didn't think it was love. But something else. Something possessive. Something...

Luna had to admit it to herself. Darien Refatalki, even though he'd still been as cool and reserved as ever, had not left Serena alone one minute. Especially not with Seiya. Luna chuckled to herself in her mind. Darien definitely didn't like Seiya. The feeling was mutual between them really.

Darien had taken care of his wife. She had to give him credit for that. What she didn't like however, was how Serena was distancing herself from her husband and how Lita Larina continued to cling to Darien like a limpet. She knew that Serena had noticed that and she didn't like it. Maybe that was why she was turning more and more towards Seiya for support.

Trouble was going to brew soon if something didn't change.

Serena jumped slightly as she heard a door open and close sharply behind her. Her frayed nerves tightened even more as she sensed the person who had come into the room. Darien. Keeping her gaze on her hands, her ears listened to the slow tread of his footsteps as he walked towards her. As they stopped directly behind her, she lifted her head and met his gaze in the mirror. This... position they were in seemed familiar. Thinking back, she recalled the last day of their honeymoon. Of how she hadn't known the condition Diana was in. Of how she hadn't known that only in a few hours Diana would die, leave this world and go join her parents. Of how only in a few days she would be sitting here after attending the funeral and seeing the tiny white coffin being buried in the ground.

"How do you feel?"

Serena let out a little dry laugh that threatened to end in a sob. "How do you think I feel?"

Darien stared at her without replying and Serena felt slightly ashamed at her bad-mannered tone. He was just being polite and the least she could do was acknowledge that and show a little politeness back to him. Especially since she wouldn't call his behaviour throughout the past few days uncaring.

She stood up and took a few steps away from him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to- I... I'm just still out of it, the funeral and all. I can't believe that she's dead. Just three weeks ago, she was here, alive and well. Then we went away and when we came back, she wasn't here, wasn't well, wasn't alive. I just- I just feel so helpless and guilty that I wasn't there for her when she needed me."

Serena looked at Darien's face but he didn't show a flicker of emotion. God, he was so cold and aloof! He only showed emotion when it concerned the well-being of himself. Spinning away from Darien, Serena shook her head. Maybe she shouldn't said so much to him and shown him her vulnerability. Of course he'd tried to take care of her during the last few days but it was only out of a sense of obligation and not any real desire to help her. She knew because she had seen the way he acted towards Lita Larina. He showed real feeling when he was with her. That had been happening more and more. They had been spending more and more time together. Which wasn't true for Serena and Darien. Oh Luna may think that Darien was a perfect husband for Serena. She knew Luna's thoughts as if they were her own. Luna could never hide what she was feeling, what she was thinking. It was plain on her face. But what she didn't know was the way Darien stayed with her, but never talked to her. He was always silent, always immersed in his own thoughts, his own business.

Was this how they were going to behave towards each other from now on? Was this how their marriage would continue?

But who had said anything about the marriage continuing? Now that Diana was dead surely Darien would want to get rid of Serena as soon as possible? There was just no reason to prolong this relationship. She was thankful that Darien had delayed the divorce for a while because she had been in no condition to handle anything. But Diana was gone now. Her funeral had driven home that point. So, she had to start her life afresh again. Forget everything that had happened. Forget the life which had demanded so many sacrifices from her and given her nothing in return. Forget her short-lived marriage. Forget Greece. Forget those three weeks.

Forget Darien.

A prospect which was scaring her more and more because somewhere in her heart, she knew that any effort she made to do what her brain told her to do would be futile.

Serena lay in the bed, alone. Who knew where Darien was? She didn't even know when he was coming back. And she told herself that she didn't care. But that was a lie wasn't it? Yes it was. She cared. She cared more than she should. It wasn't love. It would never be love with Darien. They were two different people-

As is everybody in the world except Siamese twins. And even they're a little different, whispered a little voice in her head.

Well, she knew that but they had two very different viewpoints, which, she admitted to herself made life interesting. It would be incredibly boring if everybody had the same thoughts. Life would be dull, dreary and basically life-less.

However, she knew that they could never have that kind of relationship. Though lately, it seemed as if they were doomed to have no kind of relationship at all. For all Darien's promises that nothing would change after they came back from their honeymoon, he had barely touched her, let alone spent a whole night with her. He always came back after midnight had long gone. She didn't ask him anything and he didn't tell her. But she knew where he went. Oh she knew. Lita Larina. She even had evidence.

One night, the phone in their room had rung. Darien had just left the house and so Serena picked it up. What a mistake! She didn't usually do this since she still considered this place to be Darien's and not hers. But she just had this time. It had been the night before Diana's funeral and she had been feeling very emotional. She had needed something to take her mind off Diana, and so she had answered the continuous rings. She could still remember every word of what had been said.

"Hello?"

"Mrs Refatalki. How are you?"

Just listen to her trying to butter her up with politeness. Well, it wasn't working. She was onto her.

"Fine." Serena could tell that Lita was waiting for her to say something else, like ask her how she was. Well, she could keep waiting.

"Is Darien there?"

"No."

"Oh." Serena waited for Lita to continue. She could sense the other woman's discomfort over the line and that gave her a kind of smug satisfaction. 

"Well, um... where is he?"

"Why?"

"I need to talk to him and he was supposed to meet me half an hour ago like always. So I just wondered if he had gotton delayed or maybe..."

Serena drew in a sharp breath. 'Like always'. That meant that Darien had been with Lita on the nights that he wasn't with her. God! She had suspected but now that it was confirmed...

She hung up on the bitch.

Serena came back from her memories as she heard the alarm clock beside her bed gave a small beep. Midnight. She couldn't sleep. There were too many loose ends in her life. She needed to sort them out and get her life in some sort of order. The only way she could do that was by having a talk with Darien. And now was the perfect time. She felt energised as she slipped out of bed. Besides, if she caught Darien with Lita, it would undoubtedly give her more of a moral advantage.

She didn't really know where he would be but of course there weren't really that many possibilities. Darien's office or Lita's house. She would go to his office first and if he wasn't there, then she would go to Lita's house even though she didn't know where that was. However, nothing was going to stop her from confronting Lita today. Nothing.

Serena paused on her way to the wardrobe. It was crazy. What she was doing was crazy. This was no time to go gallivanting around town, hoping she would see some sign which would tell her where Lita's house was. It was crazy to go wandering about town at midnight. However, it wasn't crazy enough to not be able to phone.

Serena lifted the telephone receiver and dialled the number of Darien's office. Not that she dialled it often but it was very easy to memorize so she remembered it. The first bell rang and then the second. Serena found herself chewing her lip, contemplating her sanity. Honestly, she knew that Darien and Lita were involved. So why was she doing this?

But she knew why she was doing this. Why she was so determined to get more proof of Darien and Lita's involvement. She wanted to make sure she had a leverage for divorce. And that was the only reason. It wasn't because, deep in her heart, she was hoping her suspicions were wrong. That she had misunderstood everything.

Nop. It wasn't because of that.

Serena's heart started beating faster and faster as the phone bell rang, again and again, unanswered. It looked as if they weren't there-

"Hello?"

Serena froze as she heard Darien's voice. She didn't know what to say. Now that her worst fears were confirmed, she'd lost her bravado.

"Who's there?"

At least she hadn't heard Lita's voice yet. Or she'd just- she didn't know what she would do. Die inside most probably.

She knew that after all her protestations of this marriage not being real and the whole thing being a sham, she had no real right to worry about the other women Darien spent time with. It was unreasonable. It made no sense.

But Serena knew why she was so bothered. It was because Darien was her husband. No matter what kind of conditions there marriage had taken place in. Deep inside, she'd hoped that he'd make everything better again. That maybe, he'd be the one who'd help her get her life back on track again. He'd teach her how to have fun. How to enjoy life. But he hadn't. He'd waited around until he'd gotton what he'd wanted and after that had happened, he'd gone back to his mistress. She was just so disappointed, disillusioned.

"Who is it Darien?"

Serena stiffened as she heard her voice quite clearly down the line. Lita! She was with Darien. Darien was with Lita. They were together. At night. Just like they'd been for the past few nights.  
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Sahara Lilium 


	12. The talk

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.  
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SACRIFICE

Chapter 12

Sahara Lilium

----------

They were sitting at breakfast the next morning and Serena searched Darien's face. She didn't know what for. Just something that could tell her that what had happened last night hadn't been a dream. Or a nightmare.

"The doctor phoned me today."

Serena jerked a little in her seat as Darien's voice broke the tense silence. Then her mind grasped what he had said and she took her thoughts away from his betrayal.

She bit her lip. "How did she die?"

Did she really want to know?

"He said that it was cot death. Unexplainable." Darien shrugged as if that was that.

Serena carried on stubbornly. She did want to know. She had to know. "But…" She shook her head in despair. "Diana was a really healthy baby. How could she just die like that?"

Darien looked at her distraught face and then sighed. "No one knows for sure the causes of cot death. But the doctor I talked to explained that Diana had several of the characteristics present in other babies who have suffered from cot death."

He stopped and Serena impatiently gestured for him to continue. "Like?"

He ticked the points off on his fingers. "Diana was born prematurely and she was bottle-fed. Mina was under 20 when she gave birth. Also, the doctor pointed out that since Diana had suffered a life-threatening event when she stopped breathing for a while during her birth, that probably had something to do with this as well." Darien saw the guilt on her face and continued on, reassuringly. "Look, Serena. It happened and we can't change that. So what's the point of upsetting yourself further by feeling guilty about something you couldn't have changed?" He was speaking in that calm cool collected tone of voice. He was using his untouchable, haughty tone.

It infuriated her so much that she turned on him angrily. "Well I have to be upset enough for both of us. You definitely don't have plans to show any emotion."

Darien didn't reply in response but thinned his lips in a tight line. Serena saw the look on his face but ignored the warning.

"You've been telling me to open up, to let me feelings out." She carried on. "Well, isn't it about time that you did the same?"

And not with his mistress in the dark shadows of the night. The thought caused Serena to scowl blackly.

Darien remained silent and stared broodingly at Serena's face. She could see the wheels turning in his head, thinking of what to do, thinking of how to placate this woman- his wife into doing what he wanted. Well, no more. It had been fun and interesting for a while but no more.

"I want a divorce!" The words just burst out of her mouth.

Darien stiffened and his eyes showed momentary surprise, as if what she demanded had never crossed his mind. The next moment, he half-closed his eyes and veiled the expression in them, though the coiled tension in him remained evident, and he bared his teeth in a smile. "No."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't think you heard me. I want a divorce."

Darien jerked his chair back and it made a scraping sound on the tiled floor. He then stood abruptly and strode towards Serena. She cursed herself under her breath as she also stood and stepping away from her chair, backed away from his intimidating figure.

"I don't think you heard me. I said no. Never."

Serena stopped as she felt the cold hard wall press against her back. A distant corner of her mind despaired at her. These days should have been the time that she mourned for Diana. Not this- this cold, impersonal conversation she was having with Darien. Besides, she was much too emotional to have an argument with some-one who always kept a clear head. She knew that he was the kind of man who would never think about getting a divorce because it would be against his pride, his arrogance and his manliness in a way. She didn't know much about Darien but she knew this with a certainty that rivalled with the certainty that she could not live with him any longer. But she was sure that he would give in quickly because there was no sane reason for him to keep objecting to the divorce. And Darien was nothing if not sane. They had married because of the presence of Diana and so they would part because of the absence of Diana. It was as simple as that.

But it wasn't really as simple as that was it? She was just using Diana's death as a smokescreen behind which she hid her real reason. Darien and Lita.

Serena flinched at her thoughts. Oh God! She didn't want to think about that. She couldn't without breaking down. But she just couldn't forget it either!

She took a deep breath. "Think about it okay Darien? Don't you want to be free from some-one like me and be able to marry some-one like, say... Lita Larina?"

Darien stopped a foot away from her, his legs an even distance apart, his arms thrust straight against his sides. "Why don't you say that you want to be free from some-one like me and be able to marry some-one like, say... Seiya Granger?"

"Leave Seiya out of this!" High colour ran up Serena's face.

Seiya. He'd noticed what had been going on? Of course he'd noticed what was going on. He wasn't blind. Or stupid.

Darien brought a hand to rest beside Serena's head. "If that's the way things are, then I don't understand why you don't leave Lita out of this. She too has nothing to do with-"

Serena exhaled sharply and stepped sideways away from Darien's hand but he just brought his other up to rest on the wall on her other side. "Nothing to do with... you- you..."

He was so close now she thought dizzily. She could smell the aftershave he had used this morning and it invaded her senses and made that traitorous warmth catch fire in the pit of her stomach. That something which had a habit of uncoiling whenever she was too close to Darien or when she thought about him in that way.

"Yes? Me- me what?"

She tried to inject a note of outrage in her voice. "You don't understand?"

Darien smiled at her crookedly. "No. I don't understand. Why don't you explain it to me? In detail?"

He moved closer towards her until she was sandwiched tightly between the wall and him. She could feel the steady thump of his heart on the other side of where her own thumped wildly.

Serena stared at the darkened orbs of Darien's eyes. They were filled with the heat she had gotton to know so well during the three weeks of their honeymoon. The heat that in the end was going to burn her so badly, so violently that she'd be running scarred for the rest of her life.

It would burn her. She knew it but she couldn't help herself. The loneliness of her entire life and the sadness of the last few days were catching up with her and she needed something to let it out at. And he was her husband. It was her right...

She lost the trail of her thoughts as Darien brought a hand up to the back of her neck to lift her head up so that her mouth was able to accommodate his. It was a deep, gentle seduction, out of sorts with the surprisingly violent emotions she could sense were trembling inside him. He lifted his head slightly and brushed his lips on hers again and again, softly, so softly. Nibbling at the corner of her mouth, nudging at her jaw-line, biting softly at the line of her neck, he enveloped them in the haze of passion which always seemed to hang around them both.

Serena closed her eyes as fire ran down the length of her body in bright, greedy flames. She felt enflamed by the passion that burned within her, as if she could combust right there. She felt as if-

Darien abruptly let go of her and stepped away. She stayed there, leaning against the wall, staring at him in confusion, her lips still burning from his kisses, her heart still beating a wild taboo and her skin flushed with the heat of the moment.

But it didn't seem to have affected Darien at all. He stood there, looking his usual cold and aloof self, the slight rumpling of his white shirt the only evidence that something... out of the ordinary had just happened.

"Do you still want a divorce, Serena?"

She flinched as if some-one had thrown a bucket of ice-cold water on her head. So that was why... humiliation reared its embarrassing head up and she tried to summon a well of anger up to cover her vulnerability. "Of course. Sex isn't a basis for marriage."

Darien nodded his dark head. "You're right. It's not. But good sex is worth holding on to for. And since we're married- and we're going to stay that way- we might as well take advantage of the situation."

Serena smiled sweetly at him as she forced herself away from the wall. "No, we might as well not take advantage of it. Why, you ask me?"

Darien smiled with fake amusement. "I didn't ask you."

Serena gritted her teeth but hid it behind a bright smile. "Well I'll just tell you. It's because we aren't going to stay married. And if you won't give me a divorce- and I just don't understand why- then I'll move out of here and we'll be separated. But either way you don't touch me again."

Darien stared at her, silently, deliberately and Serena had just taken a deep breath to continue the argument when he abruptly turned around and walked away from her, looking at her over his shoulder. "You may do as you please concerning other things but you will stay in this house, as my wife and we won't be separated. Heed what I say Serena for I won't repeat this again in words."

Serena stared after him, her face set in an expression of anger. Her mind warred against itself as she thought about whether or not to follow him and continue this... discussion. This very polite discussion. Uh-huh. It might have been polite but it definitely wasn't a discussion. It was an order Darien has just given her. The arrogant, domineering-

What she refused to acknowledge though, was the hidden relief in the deep recesses of her heart. She was glad Darien was so against divorcing her. But shhh, her consciousness whispered to her unconsciousness. Don't tell any-one.

Darien went straight into his office, without glancing at his secretary, without saying a word to the several men who were seated outside his door, waiting to talk to him. He just couldn't- he couldn't concentrate. All his attention was focused on his wife... and her betrayal. Oh he knew. He knew that she hadn't physically betrayed him. That man hadn't touched her yet. Though not for lack of wanting. And the main word here was 'yet'. He was arrogant enough to know that a woman didn't sleep with other men when with him. But he wasn't that conceited that he didn't realise that Serena was an exception to the rule and that she would do anything to get away from him. She didn't want to leave him, he knew that. It was just her pride talking. And her insecurity. And her vulnerability. But how could he reach her when she had that strong mental shield erected against him? A shield Seiya Granger had no trouble getting through.

That was the trouble.

The only male Serena trusted was Seiya. And even though he didn't like that, he was smart enough to realise that Serena needed some-one she could depend on. But when she found out the truth about Seiya, she would be devastated. She'd think she was completely without support. Male support anyway since Luna would always be there for Serena. But that was okay. It fell in with his plans that Serena stop trusting Seiya. For that was the place he wanted. A place he would get.

But until then, until Serena learned Seiya's true nature, he had to come up with a plan to keep his wife away from Seiya's grasping, greedy, hungry paws. No-one, except him of course, was going to touch his wife that way. No-one. And the one who tried would find out what hell on earth really meant.

Very soon now Mr Granger would find that things were getting a little too hot for him in this country. He would feel the need to take a long vacation somewhere far far away.

Darien had a plan.

Giving a sinisterly satisfied smile, he called his secretary and asked her to send the men in. God, he was feeling good.

"I asked him for a divorce."

Serena was sitting on a chair in the living room of Luna's house. She watched with a slightly amused face as Luna turned startled eyes towards her, her face filled with shock. "You did what? Are you crazy?"

Serena shrugged. "Depends on your meaning of crazy. I think I am. I mean, I turned my life upside down by marrying Darien and now, if we had only waited three weeks, the marriage wouldn't have been necessary at all."

Luna laughed a little. "Hindsight is all well and good but unfortunately, we can't turn back time. Besides, I got the impression that you and Darien enjoyed your honeymoon. Surprising really, considering the fact that you regarded the honeymoon as a 'sham'."

Serena turned her head away from Luna's curious gaze. "I did. I still do. This marriage is a sham ok? Just because I let Darien... doesn't make a difference."

Luna nodded. "Uh-huh. Sure. You really believe that."

"I do." Serena nodded back at her. "Yeah, I do."

Luna walked around to where Serena was and sat down on the chair beside her. She stared into her friend's face and was slightly taken aback when she noticed that Serena's cheekbones were more pronounced, as if she hadn't been eating well. Judging from the dark circles under her tired and weary eyes, she hadn't been sleeping well either. All in all, she had suffered since Diana had died.

She noticed Serena twisting her wedding ring round and round on her finger. "Why don't I believe that Serena? And why am I so sure that you don't either?"

Serena pursed her lips. "What don't you believe? And I don't either what?"

Luna sighed in exasperation. "Don't play games with me. I'm not in the mood. I don't think that your marriage is a sham. And you also don't think it's a sham."

Serena casually studied her fingernails. "Wow Luna. I hadn't realised that mind-reading was one of your many talents."

"Mind-reading has nothing to do with this. Any-one with half a brain and an inclination to see the truth can figure it out. I don't know why you've turned away from Darien. I really don't. He's been as good a husband as any. He's given you his support-"

Serena snorted but Luna ignored her and continued, "- his loyalty-"

"- his loyalty? Yeah right. He doesn't know what the word loyalty means."

Luna made a derisive sound. "You're just so wrong. Darien is all about loyalty. Why do you think he wanted Diana?"

"Because he knew that I wanted Diana and he just couldn't let me have her." Serena shot back.

Luna shook her head. "Since when did you get so conceited Serena? Why would he have cared what you wanted when Andrew and Mina had just died? You were nothing to him then and if you think that he made a sacrifice by marrying you just because he didn't want you to have Diana, I'd say you're way more arrogant than he is."

Serena stared at Luna.

Luna continued. "No. That's not why he wanted Diana. He wanted her because he was loyal to the memory of his brother. He loved Andrew and even though due to matters we know nothing of, the brothers were estranged, Darien was still loyal enough to his brother to want to make sure that his brother's daughter got everything her father would have wanted for her."

Serena shook her head as of in disagreement but it was all for show. She understood what Luna was saying and it made sense but she wasn't going to admit that she'd gotton Darien wrong on that score. And since she was wrong about that, then she could be wrong about other things and she just didn't want that especially because of the torture she'd already gone through and for it to be for nothing. Well, it didn't bear thinking about.

Luna paused to gather her thoughts. "He's loyal to you too Serena. He didn't leave your side during the funeral and he lent you his support." She was quiet for a while but then said something that made Serena's heart hitch in her chest. "He also gave you his love."

----------

Sahara Lilium 


	13. The revelations

Finally…

Story-line: More often than not, life doesn't go as planned. Fate throws several twists and turns your way and the path you choose will determine your future. Serena finds this out when her baby niece is tragically orphaned. On top of that, the baby's fraternal uncle also wants custody of her and is determined to go to any length to get what he wants. Even marriage.

----------

SACRIFICE

Chapter 13

Sahara Lilium

----------

Her mind grasped hungrily at the thought. Darien? Gave her his love? She hadn't noticed that- but maybe that was because it wasn't true?

Serena roused herself from the well of dark thoughts she had fallen into. "That's where you're wrong Luna." She didn't want to examine too closely the sharp feeling of disappointment she felt.

"Darien doesn't love me anymore than I love him. As for his support, he just gave me that for appearance's sake. And as for his so called loyalty to me- and your so called loyalty to me-" here Serena paused to stare at Luna, "- get that thought out of your head. He's no more loyal to me than- than Casanova probably was to one of his lovers."

She paused and saw the way Luna was looking at her. Throwing her hands up in exasperation, she said, "You haven't even asked me why I want a divorce yet and you're already going on about it. I do believe in the 'sanctimonious' act of marriage, contrary to your belief. I wouldn't just ask for a divorce because the reason why I got married is no longer alive. No. I believe that if you get married, it should be for life. Except in special cases."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Special cases. Of course! And I suppose your case is a special one?"

Serena smiled with false sincerity. "How right you are Luna. The only right thing you've said since I've been here. You know that I can't abide cheaters. And Darien... is one."

"Darien's a cheater?"

"Yes." Serena heaved a high sigh. "Yes Luna. Darien's a cheater."

Luna shook her disbelievingly. "Darien's cheated on you."

Serena let out a little laugh. "Uh-huh. I do think the word cheater implies that he's cheated on me."

"And who has he cheated on you with?" Luna got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as she asked the question. She knew the answer, she knew whose name Serena was going to say. She just knew-

"Lita. Lita Larina." Serena's mouth twisted bitterly as she spat out the name.

Luna didn't know what to say. She had guessed that Serena would come to that conclusion after the way the other woman had trailed after Darien. It was the most logical conclusion to come to. But Luna just had the feeling that there was more to it than that. Something wasn't right in this picture Serena had painted.

"Do you have any proof?"

Serena shrugged one of her shoulders. "Lots of things. He comes home late every night. He hasn't touched me at all lately."

Except that morning. But then, that little display wasn't because Darien was overcome with passion and couldn't control himself. It happened because he was making a point to Serena. So...

"He hasn't touched me!" Serena repeated with more force.

Luna held up her hands at Serena's vehement tone of voice. "Take it easy, ok? I believe you. So, what else makes you think that he's having an affair with that woman?"

Serena rubbed her forehead as exhaustion threatened to overtake her. "Well, there was that phone call that I received from Lita at midnight. She asked me where Darien was and whether he'd started out to meet her like he'd done for the past nights. Also, I phoned Darien's office at midnight last night and both of them were there."

Luna wrinkled her nose. "Midnight huh? Well... maybe there's a simple explanation for all this."

"Yeah right. They were both just having a cosy little chat there were they? We both know the truth Luna, and I just can't bear it. I can't share my husband with somebody else. I mean, how would you feel if Artemis had another woman on the side? You wouldn't like it all would you?"

Luna's eyes narrowed at the thought. "I'd kill him."

Serena nodded. "Exactly. Well, now you know what I feel."

"But Serena," Luna paused and blushed. "I love Artemis."

She looked wryly at her friend. "Well, at least you're finally admitting it. Have you told him yet?"

"Well, I was going to but then he-" Luna stopped and shook her head. "We're not taking about me, we're talking about you. Do you, or do you not love Darien?"

Serena was silent. Did she or did she not, that was the question. She had always believed that real love grew slowly and steadily. You couldn't ever really meet a person and declare that you'd fallen instantaneously in love with that person. It wasn't possible. You had to know the character and the personality of the person involved before you could make claims of love.

She had known Darien only for a few weeks. That wasn't a long enough time for her to be in love with him was it? Of course not. She couldn't be in love with a person who was that insensitive, that callous that he'd cheat on his wife just after the honeymoon. Was she?

"No!" Serena shook her head and her hair flew around her face. "No. I'm not in love with that man. Never." Luna watched Serena's reaction in silence. Serena huffed out a breath and still shaking her head, threw up her hands. "I'm not!"

"Okay, okay," Luna interceded. "You're not in love with him."

"Why would I be? I mean, what has he done that would cause me, or any other woman to fall in love with him? I'll tell you what. He made my sister's life hell by not accepting her when she married Andrew and by making his own brother an outcast-"

Luna interrupted Serena. "You don't know what the actual reason was Serena-"

Serena shook her head. "No-one from his family bothered to meet Mina even once. Andrew was thrown out of their house when he announced that he was going to marry her. What else am I supposed to think?"

Luna stayed silent.

Serena sighed wearily. "Darien then forced me to marry him just because his pride demanded that Diana not be brought up by someone outside the family. After that, he just used me because I was convenient and his mistress wasn't there with him. Notice how now that she's available he's taking full advantage of the fact?" Serene fell silent and stared at the floor, her throat tight with painful emotion.

Luna shook her head slightly and let out a sigh. "Okay Serena. You're not in love with him, and I'll admit you've had a raw deal. I suppose you've got a right to be angry right now. But all I'm saying is that please please-" here Luna gripped Serena's hands in her own "- think before you do anything. Talk to Darien. Any marriage is worth holding on to no matter how it originated. And Darien..." She made a vague gesture. "You could have done worse."

"Yeah I could have done worse." Serena stood up and grabbed her bag from the table. "I could have married a normal man. Someone not rich. Someone not arrogant. Someone who knew what the word respect meant." She paused with her hand on the front door. "Someone like Seiya." she whispered, letting herself out of the house and closing the door behind her, leaving a stunned Luna behind her.

She drove. To Seiya. She knew she shouldn't, it wasn't fair to burden him with her problems. But she needed- she wasn't being trite- she needed a strong shoulder to cry on. Luna was her friend, her best friend who, rather than taking her side, was telling her to stay with her oh-so-faithful husband. Seiya, she knew, wouldn't do that. In fact, Seiya would be glad that she wanted to leave Darien. He didn't like her husband, she was aware of that. Well, now she knew why. Seiya had seen what Darien was capable of and how much he could hurt her. Oh, if only Seiya had spoken up and if only she would have listened to his warnings and not married Darien. If only... however hindsight was no good at all.

She got out of her car and quickly locking it, hurried to Seiya's front door. Keeping her finger pressed on the doorbell, she shifted impatiently on her feet.

He had to be home, please let him be home, please let-

"Seiya!"

"Serena! What are you doing here?" Seiya asked while stepping aside to let her in.

She did and grabbing his hand and led the way into the living room.

"Serena, what is it? You look strange and-"

"I want a divorce." She burst straight out a watched as Seiya froze. "I want a divorce." She repeated as if to make sure that Seiya had really heard since he wasn't showing any reaction.

Seiya opened his mouth and then closed it again without saying he word. He looked at Serena's tear brightened eyes and sighed. "Serena."

She shook her head and placed her head on her hands. Oh God, her life was in such a mess right now. What was she going to do?

"Aren't you rushing the divorce a little?" Seiya asked gently.

Her head shot up and she frowned at him. "What?" She snapped.

He held up his hands and gave her a little smile. "All I meant was that you aren't even married to me yet and you already want a divorce? This doesn't bode well for our future Serena."

She stared at him for a while and then let out a bitter little laugh. "This isn't funny Seiya. Don't make jokes about it. I want a divorce from Darien and he won't give it to me."

He took her hand in his hand and patted it. Staring down at they joined hands, he took a deep breath. "What do you want me to say Serena? If you think that I should support you in what you want to do I will. But that doesn't mean I think it's the right thing to do."

Serena's jaw dropped. "What's happened to you? Since when have you started to take Darien's side?"

Seiya shook his head. "I'm not taking his side. I just think that you shouldn't be so hasty. You have this one chance to be happy so don't throw it away."

Serena looked away from him and swallowed past the ball in her throat. "You think that I can be happy with Darien?"

She continued on before Seiya could say a word. "You think that a man who doesn't know the true meaning of the word love can keep me a happy? You believe that a man who sleeps around with other women behind my back, and give him just a few more weeks, right in front of me, will be capable of showing me respect? Do you really think-"

Seiya held up a hand and stopped her in mid-sentence. "What are you talking about Serena? Darien is not cheating on you."

Serena nodded a little hysterically. "Of course not Seiya. It's all my imagination right? I'm going crazy aren't I? That's why I'm just making things up right?"

Seiya tugged at her hand and shook his head. "No of course you're not. But there is no way that Darien is cheating on you." He continued even as Serena opened her mouth. "The reason I can say that with absolute certainty is because of the look on his face every time he looks at you." He stopped and pulled a rueful face. "And the look on his face every time he looks at me, especially when I'm with you."

Serena gazed at him with an uncomprehending expression on her face. "What look?"

Seiya let out a heavy sigh. "The look that say she's mine."

Serena let out a disgusted huff. "And I'm supposed to stay with him because he's manically possessive?"

"No. You're supposed to stay with him because he loves you. Honestly Serena, you have no idea how much he loves you do you?" He said fiercely. "Every time he looks at what you're going through, there's this pain in his eyes for you. Every time you talk to me and shut him out, there's this-" Seiya shook his head. "Well, the man ain't happy, Serena."

Serena was silent. Maybe, maybe...

Seiya continued. "He... trust me this isn't an easy thing for me to say but he's so into you right now that he wouldn't even think of another woman."

Serena looked at him steadily. "Well since you seem to be able to understand Darien's feelings so well, why don't you work your magic and come up with a suitable explanation as to why he spends nights at his office with-" She stopped and was unable to continue.

"With?"

"With Lita Larina." She finished and closed her eyes as a pang went through her.

Seiya suddenly stood up. "Lita? Impossible. Unless she's mastered the skill of being in two places at once, she can't have been with him any night since you've come back from your honeymoon. Or even while you were away."

"Why not?" Serena frowned and stared at him, puzzled.

"Because she's been with me every night."

She drove. To Darien's office. She knew she shouldn't, she'd probably end up making a scene in front of all his staff. But it was way past time to confront Darien. It was time for the truth, whether he was ready for it or not. She needed to know his reasons for marrying her and even if they went no deeper than Diana; she wanted to know why exactly he insisted on staying married to her. What were his motives? She just had know...

... whether she was ready for it or not.

Darien drove. Home. For a confrontation with his wife. He knew it should have happened a long time ago, before things got so out of hand that the word divorce had made an appearance. He was more worried on the Seiya front than he had been, say, two days ago. He had been so shocked when he had found out about Seiya and Lita last night. Seiya. And Lita. Seiya just hadn't seemed like Lita's type. But then, neither had...

Darien shook his head. No. He wouldn't go there. What was done was done. What had happened had happened. What now mattered was the future. His and Serena's future. And if God was kind, then perhaps Lita and Seiya's future. If Seiya behaved. And if he didn't, well, he, Darien had a ready weapon at his disposal. If that didn't keep Seiya under control... he didn't want to go there either.

She strode towards Darien's office and nearly snarled when she was waylaid by a woman. "Excuse me, ma'am but you can not just go in there."

Serena bestowed upon the woman her haughtiest look and drawled. "R eally? So you're telling me whether or not I can see my husband?"

The woman took a step back and an expression of uncertainty stole across her face. "You are Mrs Refatalki?"

Serena smiled tightly. "Isn't that what I just said?"

"Ah... Mr Refatalki is not here. He left about ten minutes ago."

Serena shifted impatiently on her feet. "Any idea where he went?"

The woman nodded. "He said he was going home."

"Thanks." Serena made an effort and nodded at the woman politely. Turning on her heel she made her way out of the building.

She strode into their bedroom and stopped. He heard her and turned around, his hands working on the buttons of the shirt he was putting on. They both stood there and stared at each, both not saying a word, both wondering who would be the first to break the ice and get the confrontation started.

"Serena-"

"We need-"

Apparently, it was to be both of them.

Serena sighed and threw her purse on the bed. "You go first-"

"I'll go first." Darien stated at the same time.

Serena raised an eyebrow. "Yes. I do insist."

Darien walked over to where she warily stood and gripping her elbow, pulled her along behind him and sat them both on the bed.

"I've been thinking-"

"Really? Congratualtions-"

He ignored her. "I won't give you a divorce and your stubbornness says that you don't want to stay married to me right?"

"Wrong. It's my common sense which says-"

He ignored her again. "Perhaps it's time for us to be honest with each other."

Serena stared at him and then sighed. "I know." "I realised after our... talk this morning that you had some serious misunderstandings about this relationship of ours."

Serena stayed silent at this and Darien raised his eyebrows as if in surprise when she didn't interrupt. "Nothing to say Serena? Keep it that way for a while will you? I'll talk and you'll listen. Understand?

Serena sighed again and looked away from his intense gaze. "I don't think this is going to accomplish anything Darien. You're you and I'm... me."

"That's the way it usually is-"

"No. No it isn't." Serena shook her head and getting up from the bed, took a few steps away and leaned against the wall. "A marriage can only work if the two people involved have at least something in common. One of the things is perhaps wanting to make the marriage succeed. When they don't even have that, then I don't think there's much use in carrying things on and making them even more complicated, is there Darien? You don't love me and I don't love you. Hell, you don't even like me so how can you even think about staying chained to me for the rest of your life?"

"Who gave you the impression that I don't like you?" He swept his arms back on the bed and leaned on his hands.

"I think it's pretty clear isn't it? There's really no need to pretend to be so ignorant." When he continued to look at her with a blank expression on his face, she smiled bitterly. "I know. Everything. About you. About Lita. About burning the midnight oil. Such dedication." She mocked.

He stood up so suddenly that she nearly gasped. "What's this nonsense I keep hearing from your mouth about Lita and I? She's just my friend. Surely you know what a friend is."

Serena shook her head at him a little. "But such a close friend Darien. I don't have friends of the opposite gender to whom I'm so close to that I don't hesitate to spend hours upon hours with them." She paused before adding, "At night."

Darien didn't move a muscle. He just stood there and stared at her.

Serena took a deep unsteady breath before carrying on. He was right. This all had to be said. "I suppose you're thinking that since I don't love you and I know that you don't love me, I shouldn't have any hopes of fidelity from you should I? I suppose you're right. But see, maybe I'm just weird but I think that even if there's no love in a marriage, respect just has to be there. And it's just so plain that you don't respect me. And maybe this is even weirder of me but I just don't like the idea that people laugh at me behind my back."

"Are you done?" He spoke in a normal tone of voice and Serena nearly sighed in relief that he wasn't angry- until she looked at his eyes. His eyes... God help her.

He smiled at her tense face. "Sit down, dear wife of mine. What I have to say is going to take a while."

She didn't move.

He took one step towards her and smiled at her again. "Well?"

She moved. Fast.

"Let's start at the beginning shall we?" He didn't wait for her response. "Quite a few months ago, I looked across a crowded café and I saw a woman. A woman so beautiful that I... I thought perhaps I was imagining her. Perhaps she wasn't real. And I wanted that woman. I wanted her more than I had ever wanted anything in my life. That woman was with another woman. Another woman who was with my brother." He stopped and looked at her. "Do you understand what I'm talking about Serena? Do you remember?"

She did. Their first meeting. Oh, she did.

He sat on the recliner besides her, and placing his elbows on his spread knees, straight ahead, away from Serena. "I realised then who you were. The woman who had brought Mina and Andrew together." He took a deep breath. "The woman who was indirectly responsible for breaking Lita's heart."

She gazed at his profile. "Lita? What does Lita have to do with this?"

He still didn't look at her. "My papa and Lita's father were close friends. I'm sure you've read stories where such close friends promise each other their son and daughter. Well, this wasn't a story. It was real life. So Lita was to marry into our family. She was to marry Andrew. And why not? She was beautiful. She was connected to the family. He wanted her. She wanted him."

Serena noticed how being connected to the family came before Lita and Andrew wanting each other, but she didn't comment.

"However, when I say that Andrew wanted Lita, I don't mean to imply that it was anything serious. Far from it actually. It was just an opportunity for Andrew to flirt. To look at Lita and be smug because she wanted him. No-one else."

He was silent then, lost in his own thoughts. Serena leaned back and kept on looking at him. Lita... and Andrew. Lita... and Darien. That woman was really attracted to the Refatlaki men wasn't she?

He sighed heavily and came back to the present. "I suppose that it just wasn't meant to be. Andrew and Lita. Fate, some would call it. He met Mina and fell in love for real. They dated. Had a huge argument with each with and broke up."

Serena remembered those few weeks. The state poor Mina had been in!

Darien continued. "Anyway, it was you who sorted it all out and then they got married. Andrew was over the moon." Here Darien paused for a moment and smiled sadly. "Well the same couldn't be said for Lita. She was heartbroken. Devastated. You probably don't realise the effect that marriage had on her. Having been brought up to be told that she was to be Andrew's wife- well..." He trailed off.

Serena felt a pang of pity inside her. "I suppose she must have hated Mina."

He smiled. "Lita's not like that. She didn't hate Mina when she saw how Andrew behaved with her. How much he loved her. But as is natural, Lita became vulnerable. She didn't have any self-confidence any more. She... she became depressed all the time. She would barely eat, barely sleep. Papa was just so angry with Andrew that he refused to have anything to do with him anymore. And then..."

Serena held her breath. And then...?

Darien sighed heavily. "Something happened. Something that made every-one get up and take notice of what Lita was going through. She eloped."

Serena stared at Darien. That was the last thing she had expected.

He shook his head. "The man she married was the worst man she could have picked. He was a selfish, greedy gold-digger. She realised that soon enough and got a divorce, though she paid a heavy price for her mistake. After that, she just lost all hope. She was depressed all the time and..." Darien stared off into the distance and trailed off.

He finally faced her. "I was there for Lita as a friend. I helped her sort her priorities out for her. I made her realise that no man was worth more than her life. I made-"

Someone interrupted. "He made me fall in love again."

Serena's head spun towards the bedroom door.

Towards Lita.

----------

Sahara Lilium 


End file.
